<p>H & D just went skiing Friday- I didn’t go, I only ski x-country & I hoped it would be sunny so I could work in the yard. ( It poured, but I worked in the yard anyway- that is about my speed, no large predators or fast moving objects)</p>
<p>D2 on the other hand would like to take up scuba diving, loves surfing ( & sharks) and is happiest when traveling through developing countries.</p>
<p>She was born this way & it is one reason why I am balking at helping her get a car, even though she needs one for work/internship.</p>
<p>How do other parents cope when their children live for an adrenaline rush?
It does seem to be getting a little better as she gets older- easier to take the 5year plan for her B.A. I would like her to be mature as possible before she signs up to do the Peace Corps in Honduras.</p>
<p>We’ve done two things: 1. put things off (like getting the pilot’s license that friends got in high school and he dearly wanted, and eventually got at age 23). 2. Encourage and support knowledgeable risk taking, as opposed to impulsiveness or “winging it”. </p>
<p>He learned a lot by being an EMT. Important parts of EMT training are making sure that the scene is safe (situational awareness) and an insistence on following procedures. In college, he held positions of responsibility in his school’s rescue squad, and he saw first-hand how problems occurred when people did not follow procedures. </p>
<p>He also learned a lot in a “human factors” college course, where they studied how human error led to airplane crashes that were readily avoidable. He talked to us a lot about this course, and we, perhaps naively, thought that those discussions were constructive.</p>
<p>Unfortunately some people love doing stuff like that, going off the deep end with adrenaline and doing things few normal people would do. My take is that as long as the kid is doing it knowing the risks and dangers, knowing what can happen, that once they are beyond a certain age that is all we can do. For example, if they are into scuba diving knowing the various risks and such (btw, if taught properly, recreational scuba diving the way most people do it is not necessarily that risky, the devil is in the details. If they stay within recreational limits of depth (<110 feet) they will be fine, as long as they are otherwise in good shape and so forth; on the other hand, wreck diving in 200 feet of dark, cold water like the guys in “Shadow Divers” is not recommended) and having decent training is important. If into skiing having solid skills before attempting the dangerous hills is critical (btw, the avalanche risk is with back country/virgin snow skilling mostly, in regular ski areas such things are pretty tightly controlled, though accidents do happen), and so forth. Hopefully if they know the risks and how to avoid them, you hope for the best. </p>
<p>I think one of my saving graces growing up was being in a family that did our own car repairs, I learned literally the nuts and bolts of cars, and also what could go wrong in them, and it helped temper my driving, at least to a certain extent (I had a small italian sports car, not exactly the most reliable thing on the road), and having been around a rescue squad I also know what more then a few kids ended up doing to themselves, thinking they were immortal…</p>
<p>In the end, though, it really is up to them. One friend of mine, who amazingly is still with us 30 years + after high school, said if he went doing his favorite things, that was okay, that as long as he did everything to make sure he wouldn’t become a statitistic that if somehow the reaper got him, at least it as something he enjoyed, rather then dying in a stupid way at his own hand, rather then some idiot drunk running him over or tripping on a carpet and breaking his neck… ya can’t lock em up for 30 years, all you can do is make clear how ****ed off you will be if they die and that the nagging will be eternal once you check out:)</p>
<p>My kids tend toward being more cautious, so I guess I’ll count my blessings. Was shocked when in college S took up rockclimbing, with gear and D took up fencing. Not sure if S is still into rockclimbing now – haven’t heard. D found the time for fencing practice too late (they often ended at 11 or midnite or later on school nites). </p>
<p>I guess we try to have them weigh risks & benefits & do things as safely as possible.</p>
<p>I was brushing my teeth during this morning’s news and missed something that I can’t find now. Did one of the survivors actually have a device like an airbag that saved them?</p>
<p>Yes, apparently. It seems to work by causing you to stay near the surface of the sliding snow so that you aren’t buried by it. I assume you have to have the presence of mind to deploy it yourself and also the physical ability to do it. The woman wearing it was some type of professional skier, I believe.</p>
<p>Just read further this morning that the deployment of the airbag requires you to pull a lever. Its worn as a backpack, and is reported to cost $600-$1000. Article noted that these devices are more accepted/popular in Europe than in the US.</p>