I took my son out on some ice...

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while we were sledding. He's nearly 10 years old. He later told my wife about it and she scolded me. We were literally one foot out on the shallow end of a small pond and the ice was frozen completely through, so there was no danger where we were but 10 meters further out the ice was too thin to stand on. I told my son about the dangers of ice and what to do and NOT do. I looked at it as an education in how to assess risk and take precautionary measures so that you can do things in life, take risks, but do so safely. My wife thought it was completely irresponsible and taught my son that he can go out on ice. She's concerned that now, if he's near an iced over lake in the future, he's going to think he can go out on his own and test it, and then might break through. I think he's now educated that he knows not to do that. Do you think it's best to teach children to avoid risk at all cost as much as possible, or accept risk but learn how to assess it and manage it effectively? Even unnecessary risks like climbing trees or rocks or walking on frozen ice?