The End of “Risky Business”

We live in the safest moment in human history. We have mandatory seatbelts, side-curtain air bags, carbon monoxide detectors, bike helmets and vaccinations against all forms of maladies.

We’ve wrapped ourselves and “our people” in bubble wrap. But are we really any safer today?

What happened to the old-school jungle gym? And the round, “spinning wheel of death” that was a staple on every playground? Every kid I know was tortured on that thing. What about the metal playground slide that would immediately deliver third degree burns in July. Where did these rights of passage go?

Growing up in Georgia, life was an adventure. Once we learned to ride a bicycle, the world was open for exploration: tunnels, sewers, abandoned buildings, construction sites and anywhere else we could venture. Yes, kids in my generation were like feralcats.

We rode our skateboards down steep hills at breakneck speeds without helmets. We pedaled bicycles to school. On weekends we jumped over ramps made of plywood and cinder blocks. Usually, another kid would lay down so we could jump over them.

We played with matches, tried cigarettes, and build raging bonfires. we did amazingly stupid things with bottle rockets and firecrackers. When it snowed, we walked on frozen ponds of questionable thickness and went sledding on private golf courses.

We also never wore seat belts. Conventional wisdom held that being thrown clear of a car crash was safer than wearing a seat belt. Yes, because being hurled through a windshield at 70 mph seemed the safest way to survive a crash, as long as you didn’t spill your beer or drop your cigarette.

More recently, seatbelts have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. And, they reduce the chance of fatal injury by roughly 50%. Can you imagine anyone not using a seatbelt today?

Playgrounds, too, have become safer. Advances in design now dramatically reduce fall heights and injury rates compared to traditional playground structures like the vomitron shown above.

These numbers aren’t just statistics—they represent real lives. People who avoided trips to the Emergency Room. Or, worse.

Yes, by every objective measure, life is safer today. But, what has that safety cost us? Because somewhere along the path to reducing risk, we eliminated courage.

For generations, risk is how humans tested themselves. Climbing trees, biking without helmets, asking someone out on a date. Sure we all did some epicly dumb stuff, but there was a point to it.

These weren’t all reckless acts. They were rituals of courage. Small exposures to fear that seasoned us for the bigger challenges that lie ahead. Because, as you know, life is fraught with challenges that often seem insurmountable.

Today, much of that risk has been sanitized, stripped away from us. Kids spend their childhood  being shuttled to/from structured activities in the back of a gas-guzzling SUV. I doubt you could find a single spinning wheel of death in the US.

Today’s teens aren’t just safer. They’re the thirstiest teens in history.  Each carries a 64 ounce Stanley Cup everywhere they go. Cause, you know, dehydration can be life threatening. My generation drank Coca-Cola and smoked the filtered cigarettes, cause they were healthier. But, ironically, teen alcohol consumption has dropped precipitously since the 1980’s.

Today’s teens have little interest in driving. The number of sixteen year old drivers has fallen 45% since 1983. I can’t imagine delaying my driver’s license at age 16.

The number of teens having a sexual experience has also dropped precipitously. I’m not encouraging or condoning teen sex. I’m just making a point about risk. The number of teens having a sexual experience has dropped to 32% since 1983. Maybe because they don’t have a car or a backseat.

So, no driving, beer or backseat make-outs. What’s the point of being a teen these days?

All this risk avoidance carries over into adulthood. Today we can track our steps, our resting heart rate, our sleep and all sorts of other health data on rings, bands and watches. We are offered  insurance on everything from smartphones to airline tickets. You can even insure your identity and your pets.   

Yes, we’ve made life so risk-free that we may be raising a generation allergic to failure. Without risk, life becomes flat. No adventure. No uncertainty and no growth. A safe life might be long, but it’s also really boring. I wrote about adventure in Often Wrong, Seldom in Doubt.

Think about your most vivid memories and biggest accomplishments. I’m betting they included at least some adventure. Some chance of failure. Nobody retells the story of the time they stayed home and went to bed early. Because the most exciting moments in life are just that: risky and adventurous. 

The death of risk is, in many ways, the death of courage. As Mark Twain once wrote, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but action in spite of it.”

We are advised in life to “be of good courage”. Because courage is what allows us to take action, to create, and to fight for something bigger than ourselves. The challenge now isn’t removing risk—but to choose it wisely. To remember that while safety protects, courage is what brings the color to an otherwise monochrome life.

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What do you think? Don’t your best memories involve a certain amount of risk? Mine do. I want to hear about them.

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