Overall risk philosophy
How much risk you will accept in everyday childhood, from keeping children as safe as possible to letting them take supervised or free-ranging risks.
How much risk should we let our child take?
In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: As safe as possible; Supervised challenge; "as safe as necessary" (CPS); Free-range (Let Grow). Evidence: experts disagree. Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. Best settled: toddler.
- Evidence
- Experts disagree
- Best settled
- Toddler
- Part of
- Raising the child
Overall risk philosophy: what are the options?
Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.
1. As safe as possible
You remove every risk you can.
2. Supervised challenge
You allow challenges while an adult watches closely.
3. "as safe as necessary" (CPS)
You protect against serious harm and accept scrapes and bruises, the Canadian Paediatric Society's phrase.
4. Free-range (Let Grow)
You give the child wide freedom to roam and do things alone, as the Let Grow movement promotes.
Overall risk philosophy: what does the evidence say?
Experts disagree. Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. (Contested between traditions)
CPS cites more activity, better mental health and resilience from risky play; no equivalent AAP statement was found
Sources
What else is worth knowing?
Every family balances keeping a child safe against letting them try things. The Canadian Paediatric Society encourages risky outdoor play and the phrase as safe as necessary. Your general stance here shapes many of the specific choices in this area.
Questions to ask each other
- What risks were we allowed to take as children?
- What scares us most as parents?
- Where do we want to say yes more often than our instincts suggest?
More in Safety, risk and independence
First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.