Rash by Pete Hautman: Do you feel that too many of your freedoms have been taken away or restricted for the sake of safety? If so, which ones would you like to have back?

[Peggy]

It's very difficult to draw a line between personal freedom and the safety of the group; the line shifts back and forth. I definitely do not want to see it shift any further toward restriction - I believe that is a slippery slope.

[Emily]

I feel that today we have to be aware of the dangers around us and we are not allowed to do some things because our authorities don't want us to end up getting hurt or in a hard place. So for example I think it's ok to play sports, say football. When you play football there are always risks involved, you could get seriously injured. But if you look on the other side there are benefits to playing football you get exercise and its a lot of fun. So we meet in the middle. It would be painful to play football without any protection (unfortunately they learn that the hard way in this book) so when you play football you wear pads and play by the rules to try to prevent people from getting too hurt. In this book I also thought it was outragious that their track was so darn padded they couldn't run on it, I mean if you fall on a regular track you might scrape your knee but its not the end of the world. You'll heal! So in conclution I don't feel that my parents or the goverment or any other authority has outragiously restricted my freedom for the sake of safety. It is an effective way of keeping me and others safe without babying us.

[Lillian]

i feel like some freedoms have been taken away, but they are all ok, because they are trying to keep us safe, i don't want any more to be taken away tho.

[Elliott]

I personally think it is every person's own decision if they want to put themselves in dangerous situations. For example, if someone thinks that riding horses is too dangerous, then they shouldn't do it. But that doesn't mean it should be illegal for everyone to ride.

[Jenny]

Definitely...for example I'm not allow to see movies without an adult at the theater, because it's too "dangerous." But I really don't mind that much, if it means respecting my parent's rules.

[Hunter]

I feel the way things are today, safety isn't too extreme. It's when people justify restricting freedoms "for safety," an example is banning books, that I question the motive. Someone should be able to make their own decisions for themselves and their children.