Fred, check out this site http://www.uni.edu/playground/home.html

I disagree with the statement that "The present culture of overprotection produces a generation of "sappsy weans"

I work retail, I have seen parents let their kids wander into the parking lot, play with box knives, handle and smash glass objects, and wander off completely out of their sight.

Two days ago I was at a baseball game where my husband got hit in the stomach by a foul ball. A few minutes later, parents were allowing their small kids to play right along the third base line, where they could get hit too.

It's called The Dumbing of America.