Lia Grippo, who runs a small home-based day-care program in Santa Barbara, California, took some of her charges climbing a few months ago on June 15 up what has been variously called a "bluff," "hill," and "beach cliff" above Arroyo Burro Beach in Santa Barbara. The Los Angeles Times ran an article about the climb on November 29. Accompanying the article was a photo of 36-year-old Ms. Grippo on what appears to be a rocky slab, which has been described as 85 to 125 feet high.
Cheryl, in a comment posted on Free Range Kids, describes the cliff: "The cliffs there are indeed extremely dangerous, and no one, adult or child, has any business climbing them. They are straight up and down and very unstable. They are not rock, but soft dirt that gives way easily. It is also not soft sand directly below, but hard sand with many jagged outcroppings of sedimentary rock and scattered large driftwood. Arroyo Burro is not the gentle sandy area one normally associates with SoCal-not a sandy 'play area' but a rugged, scenic coastal area with rocky tidepools."
On the first day of Grippo's summer Wild Roots Nature Education Program, she and her assistant had ten kids on the beach. After a morning crab search, the group had a snack and then her seven-year-old son and his six-year-old buddy, who Grippo calls "two remarkably skilled climbers" on her website (hmmmm, if two little kids are that good, then what is Chris Sharma?), started climbing the "hill." Three other younger children followed including her four-year-old son. She called the young ones down but her younger son froze. The children were all barefoot and one was naked.
On Free Range Kids "Outrage of the Week" section, Grippo wrote, "I stopped them by saying, 'That's high enough,' when I saw they had reached the point where they would not be able to come down by themselves if they were to continue. The three younger ones (ages 4, 5, & 5) stopped and began to climb down. By this time, a group of people had gathered to watch. My 4-year-old son slid a little down the hill on his bottom. I was right below him to catch him should he continue to slide." A lifeguard helped the boy back to the ground. The other two boys climbed to the cliff-top, where the lifeguard guided them down a side trail to the base.
One of the bystanders alerted the police, who in turn brought the Department of Social Services in to investigate the incident. The DSS suspended her child-care license on July 7 for conduct "inimical to the health, welfare, morals or safety" of the children. Lia Grippo and her supporters, however, believe that this is just another example of the Nanny State taking away our freedoms. Grippo told the Santa Barbara Independent, "I think that there is a growing trend toward risk aversion in our society that has really gone over the edge. We live in a time that both our children and ourselves must be as safe as possible, rather than as safe as necessary."
Climbing is dangerous. Anyone who has climbed for very long knows the risks of climbing, especially without a rope and equipment. While Ms. Grippo's program sounds wonderful and a great learning and growing experience for children, climbing and scrambling up cliffs and steep "hills" is dangerous and lethal. The consequences of falling is usually severe injury or death.
Every experienced climber knows that the "death zone" begins 30 feet off the ground--if you fall, you're going to probably die. If you're an adult, you can rightly assume those risks and climb without safety equipment. If you're a child, especially in the care of a licensed child-care professional, you just can't climb wherever you want. My sons Ian and Brett, who are adults now, began climbing at age 3 but they always wore helmets and used climbing equipment as children. Their safety was my burden and responsibility.
Perhaps Ms. Grippo will show some remorse and shoulder the blame for the loss of her license by admitting her lack of responsibility for the safety of her charges. Maybe a few climbing lessons will help her better understand the consequences of falling and grasp the meaning of the old climbing adage--It's not the fall that hurts, it's the landing!
Read more:
Lia Grippo's website Seedlings
Lia Grippo's explanation at Free Range Kids
Photograph above: The kids climbed soft rock cliffs like these at Arroyo Burro Beach. Photograph courtesy Santa Barbara County Parks.
Comments
I don’t care *how* good these kids are – it’s up to us, as parents, to keep them safe and not take stupid risks with their lives. That’s why we strap them into seatbelts and teach them to hold our hands when they cross the street. This woman is just teaching the children recklessness – and how *not* to climb – and she’s very lucky that no one has been injured. The fact that the parents of the children approved this adds to the absurdity: how can they be so willing to hand over the safety of their children to someone so obviously unprepared to make good decisions? Or are they so caught up in popular culture that they’re willing to put their kids’ lives on the line for the sake of being “cool parents” who condone extreme sports – with no safety net? Kudos to child protective services for stepping in. I hope the kids get some good, safe instruction on rock climbing in the future – from someone who doesn’t have rocks in her head.
At what degree of slope would harness and rope be required?