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.

In Double-Dog-Dare, our hero would face life-threatening danger to fulfill a dare, but no way was he going to kiss a girl. That too may have changed since my day.

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.