No child should be disappointed

[PDWeyand]

I grew up in the '50's/'60's and took a share of abrasions, I never broke a bone on a bike as a kid and here I am today. Today's EPS-foam/hard plastic coated helmets offer superior ventilation and better protection to your head than the original rigid plastic & polyurethane foam helmets which came-out in the 1970's. Those things were heavy, had no ventilation to speak-of, and made you look like Bobby Hull-except Bobby famously didn't wear a helmet. OK, like Maurice Richard. Er, he didn't wear one either! Well, you know what I mean! Made you look like a hockey player!

For me, it comes down to wanting to protect that which I value. What do you value?

I grew up in the 70's/80's and like you I took a few hits, scraps and I broke a few bones. Medical care has gotten better and we know more now about impact forces on the body. Helmet tech has come along way along with other safety gear. Go look at old race cars pre 70's, no roll cages. Now a driver is a cage that takes the beating and the seat belt holds him place with neck braces and like. Deaths still happen on the race track cycle and car but there is a lot less than years before.
As a kid way back in the day there was a u shaped street. So if you where at the bottom it was up hill either way. We crawled into old race tires and someone would push you over the edge of the hill and off you go rolling inside that tire around and around getting tossed around. You would roll down the hill and half way or so up the there other side. If you did not get out in time, you made the return trip. Now at the time it was one of the most fun things to do. Now looking back on that, wow where we ever lucky that we did not break our heads open or broke our backs or something of the like. Now would I let my child do that, oh hell no. And off that same hill we would 'race' our red wagons and 'big wheels' down street.