# Overall risk philosophy

**How much risk should we let our child take?**

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.

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.

- Area: Safety, risk and independence
- Evidence: Experts disagree
- Best settled: Toddler
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/safety-risk-and-independence--overall-risk-philosophy

## Overall risk philosophy: what are the options?

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:

- [CPS](https://cps.ca/en/documents/position/outdoor-risky-play)

## 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?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=safety-risk-and-independence&topic=safety-risk-and-independence--overall-risk-philosophy