KEEPING children safe is the first job of any parent surely?

So it was brave of Marina Fogle, wife of the intrepid Ben, to admit that she lets her children take risks.

Actually she actively encourages it.

On one occasion she describes stepping back to see if her child would fall down a few stairs because she thought it was a more effective way to teach her to be careful.

To be fair, she had pre-prepared a soft landing.

She also refused to put padded cushions on sharp corners, suggesting her son had learned to avoid them only once he suffered a cut to his head.

My favourite anecdote was the party she described hosting where the children were encouraged to have a water fight, with grazed knees and tears all part of the fun.

The party was a great success, she says, but I would be interested to know what the other parents said when they got home.

I have a lot of sympathy with Marina.

Children are molly-coddled these day and freedoms youngsters took for granted just a generation ago have all but disappeared.

It’s no longer really acceptable for kids to roam around the neighbourhood with their friends until it’s teatime or getting dark and there’s no doubt children are growing up without the resilience those experiences bring.

Yet, I struggle to live life as Marina suggests for one very simple reason. You have to be so brave.

It’s one thing taking risks for yourself but letting your children take them and then having to live with the consequences of what happens next is scary.

Yes, nine out of ten times, an adventure may end in nothing more than a grazed elbow but there’s always that nagging thought that there may be that one time when the unthinkable happens.

Then, it is you who would have to deal with the fall out and the guilt of not doing your job properly.

I’m not sure it matters in any case.

Marina’s theory is that it’s better to show children how to start fires because otherwise they will play at it in secret.

If that is true, then risk adverse parents are merely putting off the inevitable - and will end up with a host of rebellious teenagers to deal with anyway.