Healthy Fear?

Here's a riddle that is guaranteed to root out all the parents in the group.

Let's say you get asked to cook something for a party where children are going to be present. What is the first question you should ask?

Chances are, if you're a parent, the answer is obvious: do any of the kids have allergies?

These days, the awareness of life-threatening allergic reactions is a matter of course for schools, and virtually every other children's group or organization. If you have a child in elementary or high school you are probably already aware that foods containing, or that have been exposed to, nuts are strictly verboten.

It got me to thinking back to when I was a kid in elementary school (during a period not long after the earth's crust cooled). As I recall there was only one child in the entire school with allergies, and it seemed like she had all of them. At the time, having allergies seemed to be something of a novelty, and given the attention she received from the staff, we all secretly wished we could be allergic too. Preferably to musty classrooms.

Today we have a greater understanding of dangers of severe allergic reactions and it is not uncommon to see kids and schools stocking EpiPens (rapid injectable epinephrine, for the uninitiated). This is just part of the new reality that our children face.

When I was a child there was no such thing as Amber alerts or child identification registries. That is not to say there were predatory creeps about, we just didn't seem to think about it too much. Kids had paper routes, walked home from school by themselves and didn't give too much thought to drinking out of public water fountains. Bullying was just a part of childhood, either you avoided getting your butt kicked or you fought back. Parents and faculty for the most part stayed out of it.

I'm not saying we should be ignorant to the dangers children face every day but, with the current level of awareness of life's hazards, I wonder if today's kids might view the world as a much scarier place than I once did. For instance, when our older son was in high school one of the safety drills practised regularly was something called a code red. This is a lock-down drill in which students and faculty lock their classroom door, climb under their desks and take cover in case of a school shooting. Although the drill is a necessary response to protect against what has become a disturbing phenomena, it is still unnerving.

Then I began to recall stories my mother told me about growing up during World War II. In elementary school, students were required to bring gas masks to class every day. You would be sent home if you forgot it. Air raid drills were part of the routine. Students were required to don their gas masks and climb under their desks to seek shelter.

Although she knew it was something to be taken seriously, my mother recalled thinking that it was just part of everyday life. She never thought of it as strange or scary, just something one had to do. She also didn't think it made her childhood any less enjoyable or kept her from dreaming and playing and imagining as all children do.

Perhaps it is true that the world is far scarier when experienced as an adult. I hope that is how our kids see it, because their play and imagination and dreams will one day shape our future.

Preferably one that is a lot less scarier than today.