The guys are all laughing
But see if I care.
I’ve never turned down
A double-dog-dare.

I’ve jumped off the barn roof
Into a haystack.
I’ve run over hot coals
And rode on a calf’s back.

I once held my breath
Until I turned blue,
But there’s no way I’m going
To kiss Sally Mae Lou!

When I was a boy, back in the previous century (doesn’t that sound ancient?), a double-dog-dare was not to be ignored. Risk of life or limb was to be expected. I don’t know what has taken it’s place, in the world of young boys today, but I would imagine that it is much more sophisticated than it was during my pre-TV boyhood.

Parents must make sure that their young children understand that dares made by peers don’t take precedent over the sound moral teaching that they have received at home.