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SAFETY FOR MORE AND BETTER
ADVENTURES*
ALBERT W. WHITNEY
National Bureau^ of^ Casualty^ and^ Surety^ Underwriters
Chairman, Education Section, National Safety^ Council,^ Chicago,^ Ill.
T HE ORGANIZED safety move-
ment was an outgrowth of the
awakening of the public conscience
some fifteen^ years^ ago^ to^ the^ appalling
loss of life and limb that^ was^ going^ on
in industry; this had as one of its im-
mediate consequences the enactment of
workmen's compensation laws.^ The^ de-
sire for speed and a short-sighted
efficiency had made industry a savage,
inhuman monster that was taking an
enormous toll in human suffering. The
first few years of the safety movement
were necessarily taken^ up in^ the^ elimina-
tion of these abuses, in the correction of
bad ways of doing things. It was an
emergency situation in which there was
so much^ that^ was^ so^ obviously^ needed^ and
so immediately needed that^ for^ a^ period
of several years there was no time to look
ahead and discover the larger social im-
plications of^ the^ movement^ and^ how^ it
could be co6rdinated with^ other^ parts^ of
life.
It was characteristic of^ this^ stage^ that
the development should^ have^ so^ largely
centered about the slogan "^ safety first,"
a sentiment that is both inadequate and
misleading, and it is equally character-
istic of^ the^ later, more^ introspective
stages of the movement that^ this^ slogan
is being abandoned.
The safety movement is^ now^ recog-
nized as primarily educational, and^ in^ this
field the^ flagrant ineptitude of the senti-
ment is particularly apparent. Safety
first is an appropriate sentiment^ in^ the
- (^) A paper read before the Eleventh Annual Congress of the Playground and^ Recreation^ Association^ of America, Atlantic City, October^ 17, 1924.
railroad field, for safety on trains^ is^ more
desirable than speed, barbers, stock re- ports or ladies' maids, and safety under normal conditions may be made a prime requisite in industry. But to go into the schools with the slogan "^ safety first,"
which if it is taken literally and seriously
means that safety is to be counted as the prime desideratum in life, is not only to be egregiously contrary^ to the facts of human nature, but positively immoral.^ It has not done the harm that might have been expected solely because our sense of humor and balance is sufficiently
strong to cause us to^ take^ this^ sentiment
with a large grain of salt, but neverthe-
less the time has come when the pro-
ponents of the safety movement must
make it perfectly clear to the public that
they are no longer really thinking in terms
of safety first.
The fact is, of course, that^ safety^ is
not the prime object in life. Exactly
the contrary is true. The most important
thing in the world is adventure, and by
adventure I mean a fresh, first-hand ex-
perience of^ life.^ All^ things^ worth^ while
in life-love, friendship, loyalty, knowl-
edge, art, religion-are adventures in
which the human spirit goes out to
experience the realities of life; if these
experiences lack the^ element of^ adventure
it can only mean that life is not being
lived in the keen way that makes it most
worth while; that life^ is deficient^ in^ the
finest spiritual values.^ Evolutionary
development has^ been^ along this line.^ It
is the daring, vital, vigorous, high-souled
man and woman with^ the^ courage^ to
face and experience the^ world^ that^ have
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survived and left descendants. Our blood is full of the urge (^) of it, and it is unlikely that civilization will be able to divert the stream of life into tamer and (^) more ignoble channels. But there is (^) danger in (^) living life in this way! Of course there is danger. Danger is woven into the very warp and woof of life. Danger cannot be taken out of life without leaving life flat and uninteresting, any more than the bunkers and other (^) hazards can be taken out of a golf links without leaving it too easy to be worth playing over. The thrill in the game of life, quite as much as in the game of golf, (^) consists not (^) only in the clean (^) long drives down the fairway but in^ keeping out of the bunkers, and even more in playing out of the rough. Here then is a straight, clean issue. How is the safety movement to be har- monized with a life of adventure? Have we two (^) opposing concepts, the (^) adventur- ous life^ on^ the^ one^ hand and the safe life on the other? That all depends upon what we mean by safety. If by safety we mean safety first in the literal (^) sense, then goodbye to adventure. But is that the real (^) meaning of (^) safety? is that its deep, inner (^) meaning? We must make a closer analysis. A ray of light falls on the situation when we -realize that the word "safe" is incom- plete by itself and must be used with a (^) preposition. The obvious (^) preposition is "^ from." But that does not (^) help mat- ters, for^ to be safe from something is still negative; it is an avoidance, an in- hibition. But there is another preposition that can be used equally well, namely, " for." And here the difficulty begins to disappear for "^ safety for "^ is dis- tinctly positive. Safety from leaves a vacancy, but this vacancy is filled by safety for. Safety then instead of being merely inhibitory is in reality substitu- tional. It throws something out but it puts something else in its place. But what is thrown out and what is (^) put in its place? Well, that is up to you! You may say what safety shall mean for (^) you.
What do you choose to have thrown out of your life? and what do you choose to have put in its place? As for me,
I choose adventure. I choose to have the
bad adventure thrown out and the good adventure brought in, and because I be- lieve that adventure is in truth the deep, significant value in life, by that token I believe that we have here the real meaning of safety. Take an example: You teach a boy to play foot-ball safely, or to sail a boat safely or to use a gun safely. In each case you are showing him how he can have a good adventure instead of a bad one. Instead of (^) the bad adventure of breaking his collar-bone he can have the good adventure of carrying the ball across the goal-line; instead of the bad adven- ture of tipping his boat over, and either ending his adventure entirely by (^) drowning or temporarily by a stupid wait for (^) help, he can (^) have the good adventure of sailing on to a thrilling finish; instead of ending his hunting adventure with a bullet through his leg he can have the better adventure of the (^) chase. This is a (^) very different safety from that of safety first. Instead of impover- ishing life it does just the opposite-it makes life richer and more (^) adventurous. Instead of " safety first," a better slogan would be (^) "safety for (^) more and better adventures." Safety then is leagued together in the noble company of recreation, art, love, religion and all the other good forces of life in the work of increasing (^) the depth a;nd breadth and (^) quality of life. It recog- nizes that there are (^) good values and poor values in (^) life; it gives us the chance to discriminate and select those values that we (^) most prefer. If you are not safe then you cannot select. You must take what chance and carelessness have waiting for (^) you in the form of an accident. Safety allows you to make a choice, to select in a purposeful way. An acci- dent, on the other hand, is something that breaks into purpose, that overwhelms your purpose by the dictates of chance
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from the grown-up^ attitude.^ We^ grown- ups do things for reasons, often not only exceedingly remote, but exceedingly poor so that our processes become a mere senseless, uninspired treadmill. Children do things for immediate reasons and^ get far better value for their effort. What I am trying to express is too subtle, it eludes me, but you will, I hope, appre- ciate that I am bold enough to want to claim for^ safety a^ share^ of^ that marvelous joy of living that is so^ essentially^ the spirit of recreation. Physical safety is only a part of some- thing much larger. For the same con- siderations apply^ to^ physical^ health^ and to moral health, and the^ concept^ of^ safety can be broadened to include not merely the individual but the community, the nation and the world. Take for instance the (^) question of love. What does safety mean here? It does not mean, I assure you, being afraid of^ sex!^ Love^ is^ an adventure which is^ clearly within^ the world purpose, for it is tied up to^ the very passing on of life itself. Safety in the field of sex is quite as much safety for the good adventure^ as^ safety^ from the bad adventure. And^ the^ fundamental ethical problem of the^ situation is^ this: why accept a sordid substitute instead^ of the real adventure itself?
Perhaps I have given you a hint of why we feel that safety belongs in the schools. The ethical approach to life in the case of children has largely broken down. If it is to be reconstructed it must be built out of the elements of the problem of living^ together^ in^ a^ purposeful way. Has not safety exactly the qualities out of which such ethics can be built? The principles can be established in the field of physical safety where there is already such a rich emotional background of intuition, and carried just as much further as may^ be^ desired.^ Perhaps^ you will be interested to^ know that^ this movement is now making such rapid progress that we can with considerable assurance say that it will be only a few years until^ every^ progressive^ school^ in the country will be teaching safety. I think perhaps you will^ say^ that^ this view of safety is not really a view of safety but a view of life. Why, of course it is a view of life! You may start where you please, if you have discovered a real approach and^ if^ you^ will^ keep^ on^ the track, and you will always find^ yourself finally in the presence of life^ itself.^ In fact this is the test of whether you have found something worth while. The best thing about safety is that it leads to the more abundant life.
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