Letters: No reason for parents to worry

Sir: I applaud Stuart Walton. Children grow up, acquire autonomy, and make their own decisions about what is safe and what is hazardous. If we shelter them from making decisions about risk in childhood, they lack this learning experience and are less able to see consequences. When children play they often fall over. If they do not get a chance to graze a knee or break a wrist they are less well educated.

The experiences they go through in playing teach nearly all children how to make adult judgements about risk. Some don't learn, and, tragically, some parents lose a child. If all children lived in well upholstered cages, none would have accidents. I don't want to live in that zoo because I was brought up in the real, hard, world.

LAURIE van SOMEREN

Cambridge