Her name is Jordan. A couple of her teeth are missing, but they will be replaced before long. She doesn't understand how hard life can be, which is a good thing. When you are six, the world should be about Dora the Explorer and learning to ride a bicycle.

Jordan's dad took the training wheels off for the first time last week, ran beside her for as long as he could keep up, and picked her up each time she lost her balance. Nearly every one of those times she was smiling. He loved it as much as she did.

Zack is 18. He is about to leave home for college. His teen years have been a little rocky, but he survived with fewer scars than a lot of kids his age. He has a plan, parents who love him, and paid college tuition.

He is also taking a chance that might result in crashes and scrapes. But like his cousin Jordan, he is excited about trying to balance without training wheels. Deep down, I think his parents are too.

We read a lot these days about helicopter parents, so named because they hover overhead; trying to make sure nothing even remotely bad ever happens to their precious offspring.

A high school in Florida named all graduating seniors valedictorians so no one would be hurt. A little league all star team has been abolished because the players not picked will not feel good about themselves.

School kids are no longer taught subjects or even to question those subjects. They are taught to pass efficiency tests so the school qualifies for more funding. Anyone not fitting the desired profile is brought into submission or branded with an emotional illness; then medicated into oblivion.

Filling a kid's head with fake self esteem and no substance has been a child rearing technique for several years. At a time when one of three college grads move back home after school is finished, experts are finally questioning this way of thinking. Why it took so long is a mystery.

I remember a TV show about a bird that nested on high cliffs above the ocean. When the babies were ready to fly, their parents shoved them out of the nests, trusted their parenting skills and the children's instincts, and watched them soar. In our fear of being labeled inferior parents, we no longer permit our children to take that first leap off the cliff.

Teaching a six- year- old to ride without training wheels is the first step, and sadly for many kids, the last time they are allowed to take a risk. Even moving away for college is getting more and more uncommon.

For Zack, it will probably be tough. He might not be ready to make rational, adult decisions. He will suffer when he makes mistakes. But he will learn from them and be smarter the next time. And one day when things are going well, he will be glad he got the opportunity to try. And he will remember how it felt to spread his wings and soar. A lot like riding a bike that first time.