Years ago I remember reading a survey that showed one of the things older people regret most is not taking more risks earlier in life.

Earlier this week I heard the author of a new book on kids make the comment that today, kids are only slightly more likely to suffer from a broken bone than their parents and grandparents, something that has changed dramatically in the last few decades. He attributed it to the fact that kids don't get outside and play like they once did where they are more likely to take risks than they might just sitting on a couch playing video games. He also noted how these kids grow up to take far less risks than earlier generations. I took the concept to mean that a generation of risk takers is a very good thing.

This might also help explain why so many young adults are still living at home with their parents. Simply put, they're too damn scared to get out and start making it on their own.

Slightly more likely = a dramatic change???? Something doesn't make sense in what you are trying to convey.

helicopter parents

I can remember my dad catching me and a friend doing stupid [censored] on our bicycles in the lot next to our house. He did not tell us to stop, instead he said "Don't go come in crying cause you're hurt unless there is a bone sticking out.."

According to the research done by the author, kids were far more likely than their parents and grandparents to suffer a broken bone in past decades before social media and video games and when parents felt their kids would be safe playing outside. Some might also see his research as further evidence of the "wimpification" of American males.

Why kids need to break bones - Sort of

I gave up, I just gave a Tuck 9mm and said dont shoot any kids or cows

We played hard. Never broke a bone.

Broken wrist jumping a ramp on a Big Wheel and collar bone playing football with no pads. Stitches above my eyebrow playing baseball after running into a fence to rob a homer.

Now at soon-to-be 65, I hate the risk of climbing onto the roof of my home.

broke ankle "trying" to play basketball as a kid. i sucked at it.

i agree with texas dans post

I’ve broken 21 bones, arms, knees, shoulders, ribs, collar bone, I’m starting to regret them. They are starting to ache. But most of them were fun

Only broken bones I've had were three fingers and my little toe..

Busted my right wrist cranking a tractor when it backfired. Doctors put me back together and I wore the cast quite awhile. I was in Arizona and had to drive home to Texas driving a stick shift truck. I made it. Any idea what it takes to undo the buttons on your jeans left handed and find everything to pee? Then do it all over again putting it all back. By the time I got to Muleshoe I was through traveling or doing much of anything for awhile.

When I healed up I decided that I needed to get back in college to get a necktie job.

I think this is a pretty accurate observation.

Taking a risk or thrill seeking may be more of an inherent trait than a sign of the times. My brother 13 months younger would never get out of his comfort zone. Fortunately I have survived and outgrown thrill seeking. I must admit the grass was greener the sky was bluer and the water was clearer after each adventure. Also, as youngsters, we all probably broke and fractured bones repeatedly but didn’t know it.

Not sure if I have ever broken a bone, but I could do some amazing things on a trampoline that would result in me not being able to walk for days when I didnt land right. But even in my mid 40's I can still do backflips and front flips. Its when I try to add a 360 degree twist that gets me in trouble now. My knees dont bend like they use to.

We played and fought hard, broke a lot of bones, rope burns, cut up feet and usually had a great time doing it.
Broke both of my arms , bone in my foot and a finger before I was in the seventh grade, well my new next door neighbor broke one of my arms for me.

We played pickup tackle football, British bulldog all of the time at the nearby school, popped wheelies on our bicycles and motorcycles, got a concussion from rolling down a large hill in a barrel, head spun out and hit a tree, knocked me out cold for awhile, jumped off of two story houses just because we could, getting stitched up or pulling fishing hooks out of your hand and anything else that was fun or stupid, we either did it or got busted up trying.

From 18 years and up the list gets a lot longer, but I was just referring to when we were kids.

My son has not broken any bones yet. I still haven't figured out how he's skated around that. Cuts, bruises, puncture wounds, but no broken bones yet. Knocking on wood.

Damn Wade: 21 busted bones?
In my younger years I climbed a lot of mountains and sometimes slipped and fell.
I found out that the old saying never been a horse that couldn’t be rode didn’t pertain to me.
Spitting in the devils eye didn’t always pay off.

Growing up on military bases I got a set of stitches at least once a year from all the high jinks we got into. First motorcycle wreck at 16, that dang ankle still hurts in the winter. Bottom line was we were always playing outside from morning to night, but man have things changed.

I laughed at that!

I joked (only half joking, actually) when I got out of the Army that I didn't really care what I did, but I knew I wanted an inside job with no heavy lifting.

Lemme see, by the time I was in my early 20's I'd broken my left arm, my left wrist (twice), my right hand, my left collarbone (twice), and experienced several sprains that put me on crutches for up to a week at a time.
I'm not sure it made my any tougher. One might just say I'm a slow learner…

Broken right collar bone, broken nose (5 times), broken pointer finger large knuckle (2 times), broke both knee caps, broken toes, ribs, dislocated right shoulder once & left shoulder twice. Almost cut the little finger off of my right hand, took 13 stitches to put it back together.
Youth was lots of fun, but I am sure paying for it in old age.

That was me....had a few hairline fractures but no broken bones. But, I got cut quite often, chipped a few teeth, got bruised, etc. Had a physically robust childhood that carried into my 20's.


I think the risk taking factor does play into it, to some degree, but isn't a 100% accurate barometer