Schneier on Security

One in six million could die of almost anything. I suspect hot dogs are a culprit this often (which is not often at all), not because they are deadly but because they are common. I doubt many kids choke on shrimp cocktail and caviar.

I do understand paranoid fear with children. My twin daughters just turned 1 yesterday, and my wife and I will have to be careful not to be overprotective, because it took us so many years and heartbreaks to have kids (while most our friends' kids were turning teen).

Kids need to learn a few lessons that are best to learn when their parents are their. Don't put too much in your mouth, chew it before you swallow it, etc. are in that list. Check for peanuts if you are allergic is another.

What a redesign of the hot dog and the overprotection of children will not measure is how many of them will die or get injured in the future because they were shielded from learning life's important lessons when under the protective care of a parent.

@SR6 on Hot Dog Security

I think a lot of it stems from a person's natural desire to feel important. Unfortunately, times have changed. We deal with what we see, and we used to feel important by improving our own communities, families, workplaces, etc.

Now, the information age has enabled every rare injustice or misfortune in any corner of the world to be brought to everyone's living room. Most of us would never meet the relatives of the 1 in 6 million who choke on a hot dog, or even know someone who knows someone who knows one. However, since we hear about it, some people are on a crusade to never let it happen again.

Sometimes, a noble desire to help and protect becomes an irrational way to control.

Life expectancy is about as high as it has ever been, but we're probably more afraid than people in years where they weren't expected to live as long.

@Courtney: As much as we might like to, we can't (and shouldn't) child-proof the entire world.
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Amen.

My wife and I take the approach to our daughters that "we don't baby-proof our house, we house proof our baby." Now, we'll keep harmful chemicals and silverware out of their reach, no question. But we want them to learn that just because they can reach something means they can have it--otherwise they go to someone else's house having never learned the word "no."

Same with food. I'd rather teach them to not put too much in their mouth, chew before they swallow, ask if something they aren't familiar with has peanutes before eating it, etc. Otherwise, they'll go out and hurt themselves because they didn't learn.