Well once again it looks like Ontario leads the way. It's not enough that our kids have to wear helmets for biking, skating, or driving motorcycles. NOW, however, thanks Vaughan, Ontario, city councilor Sandra Yeung Racco, the once legislation-free sport of tobogganing is going to face the stern and enlightened hand of political leadership.
I just have one question: how does Ms. Racco expect to enforce this silly piece of legislation? Is the town of Vaughan now going to hire special constables to patrol snow-covered hills and slap fines on six- to -nine year-olds who dare go uncovered while sliding down their favorite hill? Will there be radar traps and police officers booking preschoolers on Krazy Karpets for speeding or not signaling before wiping out in a snow bank?
Good Grief Charlie Brown, what is this country coming to?! What's next? The mandatory wearing of hard hats while walking down the street to prevent damage from meteorites? Why not the mandatory requirement of umbrellas when its' raining, or fines for people dumb enough to be outside in January without a coat?
Although I can appreciate the desire of people like Ms. Racco to protect our young people, the sad fact is no one can legislate-away stupidity; which is essentially what she hopes to do.
Kids are kids and that means they get bumps, breaks, bruises, and even die doing something stupid. That’s not so much a tragedy, however, as nature's way of, essentially, "thinning the herd" and allowing only the smart ones to survive and pass on their genetic code.
Sure, I do feel sorry for those parents who've lost a child to some foolish accident. My question, though, isn't why it happened but HOW could it happen?
Unless the generation now growing up is innately stupid, or dumb, most people, including kids, intuitively understand that running into a tree head-on, at full speed, on a thin piece of plastic, wood or metal, is a BAD IDEA.
The same goes with sliding down a hill and into traffic. In my day that was called being an idiot, regardless of what your age was. These days it's referred to as being a victim, but apparently one not of your own making even though that's what you are.
Anyhow, if the kids, or their parents, can't figure out that doing something stupid can be dangerous or life-threatening, then there is something seriously wrong with them or their parenting skills. Forcing everyone, however, to wear helmets while participating in one of the greatest of Canadian traditions (tobogganing), though, isn't the solution. It is, rather, an indication of a much much deeper problem.
Personally, think it starts with dumb ideas like Ms. Racco's. But that's just me and the millions of other Ontario-born kids who not only tobogganed down hills at full speed withOUT wearing helmets, but also managed to live and tell our own kids about it too.
