> When are we going to stop sheltering our kids from reality and allow them to experience life

Well said. My younger brother got in trouble when he was little (1st or 2nd grade) for playing cops and robbers at school. The kids were "shooting each other" by making gun shapes with their hands. The school tried to use their "zero tolerance" policy to expell the kids. All of the parents got together and thew a fit (rightly so) and the kids only got a few days suspension instead... which I still find obsurd.