Are we supposed to shelter?

If you shelter a child too long...U are denying them important abilities in their own lives! If they are sheltered from things that really happen in the real world..then, when they are faced w/something, they have no idea how to deal w/it! Which will cause them stress! Y do you think teenagers feel that HS is more stressful then it was in my day (back in the early '90s)? Because they have no idea what it is to b stressed! They have always gotten trophies...whether they win or loose! They have always gotten ribbons for just entering a contest! They have never had to deal w/the stress of loosing! So, when they are in HS and there is REAL competition for things...they get stressed! I am the mother of 3 daughters..now aged 17, 14 and 11. They have been watching horror movies, listening to EMINEM and watching (or reading) the news for as long as I can remember! And they are well adjusted kids! So, I think that there is a certain degree of sheltering that needs to happen! Like keeping a toddler from putting a fork in a light socket! But otherwise, I think they need to experience things in life so they develop skills to deal w/them!