Reddit Permission Slip Warns Parents Kids Might ‘Touch Mud’

A Reddit permission slip gone viral is the sort of thing many parents are increasingly becoming annoyed with, a kind of ambient fearmongering embrace of all possible dangers, however remote, keeping kids off playgrounds and out of trees.

Over on r/WTF, a subreddit whose name is self explanatory, the Reddit permission slip seems to encompass all the stuff forcing us reasonable parents to put our faces in our hands and sigh loudly. (Because if you are a free-range parent or just have critical thinking skills, you probably know how this sort of worst-first thinking quickly spirals into a competition over who can be the most “neurotic.”)

The Reddit permission slip was posted by u/Miss_Interociter, who began:

“I just had to sign this permission slip for my kids’ school. There are no words …”

More than 3,000 Redditors commented on the sorry state of parenting — though the original poster admits the permission slip itself is a tongue-in-cheek response to what were probably incessant complaints to the school — and the top three comments read:

That’s what you get for suing everyone over the tiniest things, America.

Your comment offends me and has caused me emotional grief and panic attacks. You will be hearing from my attorney!

I was placed in the zone of apprehension because of this comment. Class action suit!

Later, the Reddit permission slip poster added:

“… I would like to be the first, as a fellow parent, to reach out and encourage you to let your kid(s) go out and play in the rain in the mud. If you are worried about clothes, see if you can get some hand me downs or old clothes you don’t mind being stained or wet. My kids have so much fun in the rain and mud – their faces literally glow with the fun and joy of being connected so intimately with this planet they are travelling on and I do believe your child(ren) will thank you for it later.”

You can read the whole Reddit permission slip thread on the social aggregation site — how do you feel about the ongoing lockdown of childhood?