>It does if you are thinking of safety and nothing else. I think there is more to a child's development than keeping them safe. ("Not that there's anything wrong with that"). Let's just let it go at that. I don't want to start a huge philosophical debate about the goals and techniques of parenting.

I think I read this story here, ages ago. It's about some mountain path in the Alps, and the path, while having quite a decent staircase, has no handrails. Seeing that there's about a ki... mile of slope below, an American tourist asks the Swiss host why isn't there one.

"Here, we teach children to use their heads"

BTW, everybody should buy a bicycle, it's not just a healthy thing, it's also a source of great wisdom. If you don't know why you have a head, what is it for, there's a profound insighgt waiting for you (or any other suc.. csu... customer): with a bicycle you get a free brochure, on the cover of which it says in large friendly letters "USE YOUR HEAD - WEAR A HELMET".