The "Good Germs" that All Children Need
In the past thirty years, asthma rates in children have doubled—with one in ten children suffering from this disorder. A recent study, however—published by the New England Journal of Medicine—discovered that kids who grow up on farms are 30-50% less likely than others to develop asthma.
It turns out that farm kids benefit from the bacteria and fungi associated with cows, pigs, and other animals. These “good germs” somehow stimulate and "educate" the immune system, so excessively cleaning a child’s environment might actually be a disservice.
As parents we’re often confused about our role. We believe it beneficial to remove every possible source of pain and inconvenience from our children’s lives, when the truth is that they need the difficulties and failures of life that teach and strengthen them.
We don’t need to intentionally injure our children—absurd—but we DO need NOT to consistently rescue them, give them whatever they demand, and save them from all of life’s discomforts.
We need to remember not to remove all the “good germs” from our children. Pain and inconvenience are both sources of information and opportunities to grow, not conditions to be avoided at all costs.
