I used to play on the roof of our shed. I have no idea what I did up there but I think it was mostly being deliberately up high. I dangled and jumped many times and jumped at least once before deciding that kind of hurt and deciding not to do it again. You overestimate the stupidity of children who are familiar with the concept of consequences. I also had my thumbnails fall off multiple times after hitting them with hammers and burned off the skin on my little finger once on a stovetop seeing exactly what these burns were that were so scary. I never even broke a bone and I have less than five wounds that should have received stitches. I had a boring, safe childhood.
Loved it. I hope my kids get a similar experience.
You don't want to raise conformist children, you want to raise rebels.
I disagree. I want my kids to be smart enough to know when to conform and when to rebel. Time and place :)
You raise a rebel by telling them "I don't want to see you on that motherfucking roof!"
Then, when they are ready, they will go to the roof.
You provide the back pressure and their job is to overcome it.
How much back pressure? That's an exercise left to the parent.
For my money, I want the few rebels who survive helicopter parents.
These kids may be milquetoast with no sense of evaluating risk.
Yes, but most kids are not allowed or encouraged to play on their roofs. If they were, the rate of injury would likely be much higher.