The tired clichés are everywhere. Boys will be boys. Let kids take risks. It’s evolution, 100 million years of human nature. And then there’s the cringiest of them all: let Darwinism take its course.

These arguments sound like they’ve been plucked from a bad social media thread, and sadly they have. But they’ve taken root in a way that’s downright dangerous.

Let’s get one thing straight. This isn’t about stopping kids from being kids or sterilising their childhoods. Risk-taking is an important part of growing up, climbing trees, building cubbies, even a scraped knee teaches resilience. But there’s a world of difference between a productive risk and a reckless gamble.

A scraped knee is a lesson. A traumatic brain injury from falling off an e-bike with no helmet? That’s a tragedy we could have prevented.

The “boys will be boys” mantra isn’t just tired, it’s lazy. It’s a way of excusing bad behaviour by pretending it’s innate and unchangeable. Here’s the truth: kids aren’t born reckless. They’re shaped by what we allow, what we encourage, and what we excuse. When we shrug and say, “Oh well, that’s just how boys are,” we’re not just letting them down, we’re failing the society they’ll grow into. We’re saying accountability is optional, that responsibility doesn’t matter.

And then there’s the Darwinism argument, the laissez-faire idea that we should just let natural selection weed out the weak. It’s a dangerous oversimplification of evolution. Humans evolved because we cared for one another, because we created safeguards, because we built rules that allowed our communities to grow and thrive. The seatbelts, helmets, and safety regulations people rail against? They’re not about controlling lives, they’re about saving them.

Yes, kids need to learn about risk, but those risks need boundaries. A helmet doesn’t stop a kid from being adventurous; it stops their adventure from ending in disaster. A rule about how to use an e-bike isn’t over-regulation, it’s common sense. These aren’t barriers to freedom; they’re enablers of it.

Social media has only made the problem worse. Extreme voices shouting “anti-woke” slogans are amplified, creating echo chambers where people feel validated for rejecting even the most basic safety measures. It’s exhausting, but it’s also dangerous. These aren’t just opinions, they influence behaviour, and they spread like wildfire, bringing more bandwagon believers into the fold.

But here’s the thing: we don’t have to let these voices dominate the conversation. The majority of parents, teachers, and community members want what’s best for kids. They understand that rules and regulations exist not to kill fun but to make sure kids come home safe at the end of the day.

So, let’s be clear. The question isn’t whether kids should take risks. Of course they should. The real question is whether we, as adults, are willing to take responsibility for creating the conditions where those risks teach resilience, not tragedy. That’s not “woke.” It’s common sense. It’s parenting. It’s community.

Let’s ditch the tired tropes and focus on what matters: giving kids the freedom to grow and learn in a world where their safety isn’t just a nice idea but a shared responsibility. Because the alternative isn’t just risky, it’s reckless.