Friday, November 20, 2009
The backlash against over-parenting
TIME: "The insanity crept up on us slowly; we just wanted what was best for our kids. We bought macrobiotic cupcakes and hypoallergenic socks, hired tutors to correct a 5-year-old's 'pencil-holding deficiency,' hooked up broadband connections in the treehouse but took down the swing set after the second skinned knee."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I don't understand why this is such a hard concept for many parents to grasp. It's so simple. Life is life and if you cannot develop a way to respond to the basic things you will encounter in life then you're basically f@#ked. A college student who has never cooked before, or used the bus, or time managed by themselves is bound to fail. The simple thing is to let them learn things and let them be what they do. Helicoptering and hovering is such a harmful thing to do. I wish parents would just learn to respect that and finally let their kids function in the real world. I wonder what they expect to do when their child enters the workforce. Will they attempt to do the interview for their child? do their job for them? That is just so excessive and pointless. I whole heartedly support these "new age" techniques that actually allow learning to occur.
I've seen a surprising number of college students who are unwilling to do something as simple as call a stranger on the telephone or perhaps even pick up a phone book to find a number. They're used to having someone else around to make the call, or to just typing the name into Google and having the number come up. If having to do something that simple is a problem then what happens when it's something more complicated? Do you call mom to set up the job interview? Do you need dad to ask the girl in class if she'll go out with you? Where does the line get drawn?
Post a Comment