A few weeks ago, I visited a castle with my children just outside Strasbourg. I noticed that while the castle had been recently renovated (truly- it was amazing), the new-and-improved castle came without the safety features that would be required in the U.S. On the drawbridge, one missed step would have landed my 3 year old squarely in the (now waterless) moat. When we later reached the top of the castle, I leaned my head out the window and was impressed by the view, but was acutely aware it was a long, long way down should your feet slip. The window wasn't covered in plexiglass to protect the modern idiots (me) from... themselves. It wasn't covered and neither was I.
As we descended the mountain, there was a sign for Monkey Mountain. I was completely intrigued- I've always loved animals, especially monkeys. Needless to say, we made a detour, hoping to see one or two monkeys, but in the end we must have seen 100. At one point, I became acutely aware that when we walked through the door, we had basically walked into an enormous monkey cage in which we were now wandering, popcorn in hand (monkeys like to eat popcorn- go figure). One had to wonder whether they were our entertainment, or if we were theirs. As the tide began to change, however, and two monkeys began to fight, we quickly made our escape through the door marked EXIT.
In each of these cases, there were small signs absolving the management of any and all responsibility. The signs also kindly handed over full responsibility to the parents.
Then yesterday, I took the kids to a CineAquarium in Paris. No, we didn't swim with the sharks, but we did pet the fish. My 2 and 3 year olds literally stuck their hands (their arms, actually) into the designated fish tank and "pet" the Koi goldfish totally unsupervised by staff. It wasn't dangerous, of course, but at home, someone would have complained that people could have endangered or hurt the fish. Someone else would have sued, claiming to have been bit by the goldfish.
It seems odd, but I'm not used to thinking for myself anymore. The U.S. is so regulated, that we no longer need to use common sense in everyday life- if there is anything unsafe about an activity, you aren't be allowed to do it. It's a bit ironic that we raise children never having to make decisions about their safety and then scoff at the teenagers who do something dangerous. If they've never had the opportunity to determine what is safe, how do we expect them to know? Perhaps we should put a bumper sticker on their cars saying "Drive at Your Own Risk" or better yet, we could put a sign on everyones doors saying "Live at Your Own Risk." The only question, then, is to whom we can hand responsibility... Uncle Sam? And the cycle continues.
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