Last Updated on: 21st November 2013, 02:13 pm
Have you ever read a story that makes sense and doesn’t make sense all at the same time? I just read one. Brain injury experts are trying to say that people who go tobogganing should wear helmets!
What?
Yep, they say that they should wear helmets.
My first response was, jesus lord this is another step towards making the world so safe there’s no fun. I’ve never heard of someone getting a brain injury or killing themselves on a toboggan. I’ve heard of the odd broken leg or something, but nothing catastrophic.
Then I read more, and they said that toboggans can get going at speeds of 35 km/h and if you hit something, the results can be pretty bad. And, if kids are supposed to wear helmets on bikes, why not toboggans since they have similar speed and no steering? Makes sense too!
Then they mentioned how many kids end up with toboggan-related brain injuries. 2000 per year! How come we never hear about them? That’s so weird!
But here’s where the other part of me starts screaming again. They say that injuries can be pretty serious if you toboggan down an ice-covered hill or one with a tree at the bottom. Well gee, if you’re watching kids slide and you *choose* that as their toboggan hill, then you’re pretty stupid and they’re already doomed because they have you as a parent. I know whenever I wanted to go sliding, mom always looked at the hill and decided whether that hill was a good idea.
So I can’t decide whether this story is stupid, sad, a good idea, or what. Any thoughts?