Is Your Child Ready for First Grade: 1979 Edition (2011)

Hell no.

Even though there was a lot of lead in the air back in 1979, today there is a risk of skin cancer. Sunblock may contain phthalates.

And what if a truck drives past? I'm sure diesel exhaust must have been shown to cause cognitive danage in a rat study somewhere.

If your kid gets thirsty, they need to drink water (fruit juices contain arsenic and soft drinks have artificial colourants) ; but water is contaminated with hormones-it needs to be filtered at home. And only a glass bottle will do- phthalates again. But it's difficult for a six year old to lug glass around.

Finally, what if there is lead in rice [1] or arsenic, and the friend has some at home?

No, I don't actually think like this, but with the the levels of scaremongering around, parenting in Internet age is quickly turning into an unpleasant and fear-filled experience. I'm not sure if it'a grant-hungry scientists or a media desperate for hits, but helicopter parents are partially manufactured by society. Overprotective parents from when I grew up in the 80's would be regarded as borderline-neglectful by today's norms.

[1] In 2013, thanks to a study linked to from the front page of HN, I stopped feeding my kids rice for a while. It later turned out that the study was totally broken. Since then I've made a point of flagging toxicology studies off the front page, along with most health stories.