Safetyism is denying our children adventure and physical activity, but above all else it is harming their minds. Risk cannot be eliminated from life, but bubble wrapping children and telling them they are in imminent danger if they ever get off the sofa is guaranteed to cause them harm.
I was adjacent to a recent discussion at my office between two female co-workers who were talking about the heatwave here in East Tennessee. They lamented how it’s just not safe to be outside, especially for children. One of them spoke of her relief that her son’s baseball game had been postponed due to the dangerous heat, while the other despaired that she had never seen such a streak of 100+ degree days. In actuality, the temperature never broke 100 during the heatwave, and only exceeded 95 degrees on a couple of days. By my observation, the temperature was about 4 degrees above “average” each day during this “record heatwave.”
The conflation of “heat index” and temperature by the fear-pushers has been successful. A great many people no longer even know the difference between the two. The concept of “average” is also not understood by those who are catastrophizing routine summer temperatures. Weather is reported as if any temperature above “average” is abnormal, oblivious to how average is calculated.
For what it’s worth, these co-workers are not the affluent, Whole Foods type of women for whom climate is a religion, rather they are practicing Christians who are demographically Trump voters. But they are succumbing to the climate propaganda.
Temperatures in the mid-90s during July and August are common throughout the country during heatwaves. But in the South, a day in summer without temperatures in the 90s has always been a rarity. Yet the various media organs are now in full “heat alert” mode every single day unless it’s raining. Our computer screens are flashing “Heat Alert” on the task bar, local TV and radio are warning to take “heat precautions,” the national and cable news make a prominent news story each day over any place that has “dangerous” above-average temperatures or triple-digit “heat indexes.”
Do you know what is much more dangerous for children than playing outside in the heat of summer? The answer is: keeping children inside to watch screens and play on electronic devices.
Here are just a few of the countless news stories from recent days:
“Heatwave halts summer fun: Outdoor activities canceled amid rising temperatures” [WUSA – 7/16/2024]
WASHINGTON — With temperatures reaching record highs, local authorities have been left with no choice but to cancel numerous outdoor activities on Monday. According to recent weather reports, the ongoing heatwave poses significant health risks, prompting swift action to prevent heat-related illnesses and ensure public safety.
Regular summer heat is being treated like Covid in March of 2020.
Washington DC has always been known for its intense heat and humidity during summer…and people visited and sweat. But now it’s suddenly too dangerous to go outside in DC when the temperature is in the 90s? Something changed, and it’s not the weather.
This next one is from the Deep South state of Georgia, where children have always enjoyed hot and humid summers:
The school district says that school officials should adhere to established protocols for Red Level status during this time frame and parents/guardians should take this into consideration when planning any outdoor activities this week. They should also make sure their children are dressed in appropriate clothing, have access to water and are properly hydrated.
What constitutes “Red Level Status” in Georgia? This National Weather Service tweet was in the Clayton County school cancellation story:
Mid-90 degree temperatures are normal and expected in Georgia in July. Launching a heat-alert panic is beyond preposterous.
In my Texas childhood, where summer days were routinely over 100 degrees (actual degrees, not the “heat index”
, not once did a parent tell any of us kids to stay inside because of the heat. My first summer job during my high school years was doing landscaping in the brutal Texas summer heat. We sweat, drank a lot of water, and benefited from physical activity, while shoveling dirt, pushing wheelbarrows, and hauling rocks and timbers. It boggles my mind to think that someone would argue it would have been “safer” for me to be inside eating snack food and watching Gilligan’s Island, or whatever we did when not outside.
Violet Affleck, the 18-year old daughter of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner was in the news recently for her impassioned plea to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to maintain the ludicrous Covid protocols. The spectacle of this fear-ravaged teenager was offered up by many in the media as brave and inspiring. No, it was tragic and heartbreaking. Here is some of what young Ms. Affleck had to say. The full video is below.
“I contracted a post-viral condition in 2019,” she continued while wearing a face mask. “I’m OK now, but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper relief,” she added.
“‘It stands to exacerbate our homelessness crisis, as well as the suffering of many people in our city. It hits communities of color, disabled people, elderly people, trans people, women and anyone in a public-facing essential job the hardest.”
“To confront the long COVID crisis, I demand mask availability, air filtration and far-UVC lights in government facilities, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates in county medical facilities,” the teen added.
“We must expand the availability of free tests and treatment and, most importantly, the county must oppose mask bans for any reason.”
[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]