The importance of risk taking

As a followup post to ‘how I’m raising my daughter to be fearless’, I thought I’d write a little on a much-maligned topic these days: risk taking.

We live in an age of child-proofing, playground regulations and helicopter parenting.  Parents are afraid to let their children out of their sight, and for good reason: they could be arrested for doing so!  But what is the real cost of prioritizing safety above all?

An Adventure Playground in Stuttgart, Germany

Risk taking is an important part of growing up, and the reason for that is a concept called mastery.  Mastery is what happens when you learn a new skill, whether it’s balancing on one foot or balancing your checkbook.  Mastery is important for children, because it allows them to be independent and capable in the world.  Mastering a new skill promotes confidence in children, especially those who are in the oh-so-important stage of “Me do it.”

Let’s take the balancing your checkbook analogy a little further.  How would you feel if, just as you were learning how to add up the amount you spent in a month and deduct it from the amount in your account, someone grabbed you suddenly by the shoulders and shouted, “Not that!  You could be deducting from the wrong account!  What if there’s an error there??”  

Pretty annoying, I would say.  And it certainly doesn’t give you the confidence to find your own way.

And yet… so often I see parents on the playground telling their children, “Don’t climb that!  You could fall!”

An Adventure Playground outside of Zürich

I’m constantly amazed at what my little one is able to do when I give her the room to experiment and find her own way.  Sure, she gets banged up now and then, but risk taking is also about learning your own limits.  And, I would argue, learning how to fail (and fall) with grace is one of the most valuable skills you can learn in this rough and tumble world.