Average out-of-pocket cost for a broken bone is $2,500. Certainly not nothing, but kids don't break a bone every month or probably even every year, so it doesn't seem like too wild of a number in the long run.
You can extrapolate this further. Why would I allow my 15 year old to start driving? What if she gets into a car accident, and I have to... shudder... pay her medical bills? I think the potential monetary liabilities of your children's life experiences should not be the focus, or even something considered too much.
When I was in 4th grade, I knew a kid who fell off a playground, got a sharp pinecone seed behind his eye, and broke his back. He's healthy today, his back and eye are okay, and his family is doing fine financially. Breaking a bone won't destroy you physically or financially, but thinking that it will just makes the urge for safetyism stronger.
Chronic unwellness due to a lifetime of sedentary activity and lack of consistent exercise on the other hand... that can often break the bank. Habits that define us for our entire lives start as children. Wont happen for literally everyone, but the majority of kids who are force to spend unstructured time outside will eventually figure out how to enjoy it, and will be that much healthier their entire lives as a result.
> Average out-of-pocket cost for a broken bone is $2,500.
44% of Americans cannot afford to even pay a $1,000 emergency expense[1]. $2,500 would crush most people.
> Why would I allow my 15 year old to start driving? What if she gets into a car accident, and I have to... shudder... pay her medical bills?
Um... this is actually a calculation many people seriously do. The potential cost of devastating medical bills absolutely plays into the risk assessment of everything we do in America.
In other places it's free though. Well, parents are taxed for the universal healthcare but they're not taxed extra for their kids.
I remember at least 3 hospital visits while I was a kid. One because I managed to get something in my eye that didn't go out without specialized equipment, one because a scratch infected and had to be cleaned surgically, and one because i fissured? (don't know the english term, not completely broken) my middle finger. All fixes free ofc.
Incidentally I spent a month during summer with my middle finger up in a cast. I was too young to fully take advantage of it though.
$2500 is the low end that does not require surgery [1]. Which I presume is the ER visit itself. With surgery we're back to my original estimate of $15-20k. My claim is not that kids shouldn't play (or that your daughter shouldn't drive a car, thats a bizarre non-sequitur). It's that people are more litigious, and the medical costs are why.
> Breaking a bone won't destroy you physically or financially,
You knew one kid who got hurt and recovered, ergo medical bills from injured children aren't ruinous to the families (or single parents) that raise them? Thanks, I can sleep easy tonight.
As with so many issues in modern America, guaranteed health care could help. A vigorous social safety net would deter safetyism, an incorrect preemptive optimization.
You can extrapolate this further. Why would I allow my 15 year old to start driving? What if she gets into a car accident, and I have to... shudder... pay her medical bills? I think the potential monetary liabilities of your children's life experiences should not be the focus, or even something considered too much.
When I was in 4th grade, I knew a kid who fell off a playground, got a sharp pinecone seed behind his eye, and broke his back. He's healthy today, his back and eye are okay, and his family is doing fine financially. Breaking a bone won't destroy you physically or financially, but thinking that it will just makes the urge for safetyism stronger.