I am the kind of parent that made his kids wear helmuts, knee and elbow guards when the rollerbladed when they were little. Local laws require a helmut when bike riding under 18 yrs old. Growing up I had 3 broken arms, 1 broken nose 1 concussion, 1 knee surgery numerous stitches and a partially blown off finger. I know what can happen.
I wasn’t so much afraid of them getting hurt, I was more afraid of the level of medical care they would get.
I know what you mean. I'm on a first-name basis with the emergency room staff at the local hospital. At first they thought there was some kind of horrible child abuse going on because we were in the ER for some kind of disaster every couple of weeks, but they finally figured out that this is just the way my son is.
I make my kids wear approved helmets when they ride. Ordinarily I'd only make them wear the helmets when they're jumping, but all of my truly serious riding accidents have taken place when I was schooling on the flat, so the kids keep helmets on even on the flat. And I still want to back the horses for them the first time.