A few things here from an old man
01-- we played with wood bats as kids---wood bats held together with nails and tape--- I think kids at the LL level would benefit from the use of wood early on
02-- wood bats today break completely different that they used to---I never stood with the knob in my hand like they do now when the bat breaks.
03---at our events we play the games with aluminum and do BP with wood
04-- our travel team plays with wood as ofetn as is possible
05-- we use wood not because of safety concerns but because we believe it to be the "true game"