We teach kids to be reckless

I recently paid a visit to Walsall's Arboretum Park. This was the place where my siblings and I spent most of our weekends and summer holidays as children back in the 1960s.In those days the play area was situated on hard concrete and on most days there was a nurse on duty in a small hut. Her job was to stick plasters on all the cuts and grazes caused when the kids fell off the slide or got flung off the roundabout. There were two paddling pools which were very popular in the summer months, and for the older kids there was always the rowing boats on the lake by the bandstand.

Back then we learned about the dangers in life. You could say that we learned the hard way, but it taught us to look out for ourselves.

Today, the ground in the play area is covered with thick rubber padding, the paddling pools have been filled in and the boathouse is just a dilapidated reminder of the past. All sources of danger have been removed. The kids soon learn that they don't have to watch out for themselves and that nothing can hurt them.

Is this the reason why most children seem to ride their bikes in a reckless manner with no apparent concern for their own safety?

It seems children are being brought up to think that it's not their responsibility to look after themselves, but the responsibility of everyone else.

J Michael, Irvine Road, Bloxwich.