In message , Paul Kelly
writes

"Trevor Barton" wrote in message
.. .
David wrote:
More children drown in the bath than in garden ponds and most children
who drown in ponds are between 1 and 2 yrs old who shouldn't be out
unsupervised anyway, supervise then educate, don't childproof the world

Quite. Exposure to some degree of danger is part of the way all children
learn about the world and its hazards. Education, no matter how young
the child, is a more responsible attitude to take than removing dangers.
You aren't going to be able to remove the dangers for ever, start, now, to
realise that, and you'll all be better off as the child grows up.

Trev

So, you have a hot iron and need to leave the room to get something, so you
say to your 2 year old "Don't touch" ?

No, she would come with me (though she does have a very goo grasp on the
concept of 'hot' AFAICT), more likely she'd pull it onto her head and
give herself a nasty bump.

In the garden, you have a bonfire. You go away and leave it while your 2
year old plays in the garden?

No.

You have a garden pond and take no physical precautions to keep your 2 year
old out of the pond?

No, neither do I have any physical precautions against her running into
a bonfire, I wouldn't leave her in the garden with a bonfire, I wouldn't
leave her running round unattended at all in the garden, the pond is not
the only risk.

Try a google search for "drowning in garden ponds"




snip

Which confirms what I always thought anyway.

1. as a cause of child deaths, drowning in ponds is very uncommon, there
are much greater risks to my daughter.

2. most occur in other peoples gardens, rather than the child's own, so
the real risk of drowning in our pond is even lower.


I'm not saying that there is no risk, there is of course, as there are
many risks faced everyday. Some people may feel that they need to fill
in there pond some cover it, some fence it etc. That's fair enough, I
have no problem with that.

My response to this particular risk is observation and education.
--
Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds
urg Suppliers and References FAQ:
http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html