One thing we find with parents so protective of their children these days is that many kids just aren’t allowed to go barefoot any more.
But once those shoes are on, parents make a presumption that their kids are now safe because of them.
Not necessarily.
Here is a video about a kind of leg fracture that concerns at least some doctors; one study found about 14% of tibia fractures in very young children came from going down a slide on somebody’s lap. (Noted in this New York Times blog).
Here’s a quote of the relevant part:
Here’s an adult holding a small child between the adult’s legs, going down the sliding board. The small child is wearing a rubber-soled shoe, and that shoe, when it touches the sliding board, generates enough friction to twist the child’s leg. And the weight of the adult, coming down behind the child, forces the leg bone to break.
He specifically highlights that it is the rubber-soled shoe that gets caught.
Now, I’m not really saying that if the toddler were barefoot that they would be safe—I suspect a bare foot could stick the same way. But I am saying that, by putting the shoes on the toddler, the parent thought that the toddler was shielded from danger via the feet. And the toddler wasn’t.
If the toddler had stayed barefoot, I bet the parent would have thought twice about going down the slide that way and the injury would have been avoided.
Shoes give a false sense of safety and security. We see that all over the place. For instance, people put on hiking boots not realizing that the added heel increases the chance of a sprained ankle. They wear shoes not realizing that nails can still go through the sole (and inject shoe bacteria deep into the wound). But because they have the illusion of safety, they pay less attention to what their feet are doing.
When you are barefoot, you are forced to pay more attention to what is around you. And that can mean safer.
One of the things about children in shoes that makes me batty, parents ASSUMING shoes protect their children and make it ok to be foolish! I would rather see a barefoot child with a catious parent any day
This is somewhat off-topic, but I’ll be going on a week-long backpacking trip to Isle Royale in August and it’s probably going to rain on at least 2 of the days and the temperatures should be between 40 and 70 (going by weather records). What would you recommend I do since I won’t be able to just get in a car and go home? Should I bring some sort of waterproof shoe (any recommendations would be appreciated) or just go barefoot and dry my feet off when we set up camp? Obviously I would prefer a very minimalist shoe with a thin, soft sole
Adam,
Hmmm. First, it will depend on just how acclimated you are to those temperatures in the first place. For me, 40 would be just fine and all I would worry about would be the possibility of constant wetness.
For longer trips like that, I carry moccasins as backup, but again, they don’t work really well when wet. What I think I’d do in your case is use Cody Lundin’s trick of wool socks. They hold together well, and still provide a lot of warmth even when wet. And you can hike around on them even if they do get horribly mucky. I’d keep at least one pair in a plastic bag so that if you are in camp and cannot get your feet warm, there they are. (And then rebag them in the morning.)
Whatever you decide to do, how about you report back to us afterwards with what you did, and how it worked?
Thanks.
So counter-intuitive but so true! When shoddies ask about protection I talk about looking where I’m going. One year on, and I have only a few puncture wounds from thorns. No glass or needle wounds yet. (Do you know of any?) Actually, I did get a glass cut on a beach as a child.