I may be a grizzled old seadog, but sometimes I can still be ‘down with the youth,’ as I believe they say.

A recent example that struck me was when Cornwall’s fun police, this time in the form of a warning to youngsters jumping from Penryn Bridge into the river below.

While I accept that in certain places, say Portreath or parts of Falmouth docks, tombstoning is truly dangerous due to boats, rocks, and such like, local youngsters in Penryn or even Porthleven harbour are probably better off outdoors than stuck in front of their Xboxes (OK, maybe I’m a bit of a fogey).

The harbour master’s office warns of cold water shock, but whenever I see these kids they are in wetsuits, hardly a hypothermia risk.

Most are locals, and know the tides and when it is safe to jump or not. Who in Penryn would want to risk having mud rescue pull them from the miasma?

Every activity has its dangers, but instead of a blanket ‘NO,’ should we see this as an opportunity to teach about managing risk, not denying its existence?