RISKY BUSINESS
Regarding “Raising a Risk Taker” by Kent Greenfield (Perspective, July 29), one of the skills I learned as the parent of a now 26-year-old born risk taker was to not project my anxiety and instead to urge her toward cautious decision making. When my daughter was not quite 2, she loved to climb to the top of the monkey bars at our local park, horrifying the other mothers. Her father and I both taught her to pay attention to how she climbed up, so she would know how to reverse her steps to go back down. Two dozen years later, she’s into rock climbing, sky-diving, and base jumping and has learned the precautions of her interests well, so she is as safe as possible while enjoying her extreme sports.
Comments
Monica Benson's letter is quite odd. Why should the parent not use the story that illustrates his point so well? What difference does it make where it took place? The location was relevant here only in that it set the scene for the reader. Sharing experiences is not a sign of elitism.