I’ve been thinking about all of the conversations that I have with friends and coworkers about growing up and the things that have changed. When we were younger we actually rode in cars without seatbelts. We rode our bicycles without helmets. We even skied without helmets, yet we managed to survive to adulthood (even if we don’t act like adults sometimes). Today, as a society, it seems like we go overboard to protect ourselves, and our children from every thing and we could be setting our kids up for failure in the future.
There are things that have changed over the years that make total sense. I cannot imagine riding in a car without wearing a seatbelt, or snowboarding (I was never very good with two planks strapped to my feet) without a helmet. The question is whether or not we’ve gone too far in some respects.
The catalyst for this post was the Little League World Series. I was watching one of the games, and I saw the on deck batter standing in the dugout with his helmet on, and the bat resting on his shoulder. I know from coaching a team when my sons played that nobody is allowed outside of the dugout except the person who is at bat. I understand the premise behind the rule. We are trying to keep our kids safe.
I’m sure this rule was instituted because either a player who was on deck got hit by a foul ball, or somebody walked by too close to the on deck circle and got hit by a practice swing. I’m not sure how many times this happened, but I don’t believe this happened very often. If it happened a lot we would be running out of kids to play baseball. If this rule saves one child from what could be a serious injury people will say it is worth it. But I have to question whether or not this rule really makes sense in the long run.
Wouldn’t it be wiser to teach the kids that when they are in the on deck circle they have to pay attention to the game? Also, wouldn’t it make more sense to reinforce the idea of being aware of your surroundings when you are walking by the on deck circle and stay away from the person swinging the bat?
By enacting this rule, we are protecting our kids, but we’re also giving them a pass on thinking. I want our population (including kids) to be aware of their situation and use critical thinking skills.
Here I go, sounding like an old man. Back in my day, kids were smart enough to avoid a person swinging a baseball bat. We didn’t understand physics, but we did understand pain. I know of very few instances of kids getting hit by a bat that was being swung by the on-deck batter. The kids that did realized that they should have been paying attention. When it happened the child was sore for a few days, but they never forgot the lesson they were taught.
You can’t teach common sense, but do we really need rules and laws that try to protect people who have no common sense? It doesn’t seem feasible to continue to make rules or laws that cover every possible situation that could arise because of a lack of common sense.
It’s a minor thing, this rule, but it is a reflection of where we are as a society. I believe that if we make people responsible for their decisions and hold them accountable we will have a stronger society. We’ll also have a population that hasn’t had common sense legislated out of them.
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