This is a discussion I was reading in another forum: How much safer is the world now than in the past? Do you monitor your child's every step or do you allow some freedom to explore?
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This is a discussion I was reading in another forum: How much safer is the world now than in the past? Do you monitor your child's every step or do you allow some freedom to explore?
Types of Parents: Helicopter, Snowplow, Bulldozer - Which One Are You? - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com
I have no kids. Peers appear to be snowplow parents.
I grew up in the 60's and I know I strayed far from my home without supervision all the time. I'm not a parent, but I think if I had kids, I would be over protective and never allow them to do the kinds of things I did as a kid. There just seems to be so many more bad people these days. Besides, you also get labeled a "bad parent" if you let your kids have too much freedom.
I read an article that talked about how everyone thinks that the worl is sooo crazy now, but the truth is, there have always been crazies. The world is actually safer now than it ever has been, but now that we have 24hr coverage it just seems like there is more going on.
Too much media now. Not much has changed. Paranoia has increased terribly.
I don't think students were holding eachother hostage and shooting clAssmates back then.
Social media has a much larger impact on society than parents do. In the past parents set the rules and kids followed them. They had very little outside influence.
Even TV was Leave it to Beaver, Giligans Island, Petty Coat Junction, etc... Life today for kids is so much different. They are exposed to things that were unheard of back when I was a kid. Sure maybe some of that stuff happened back then but nobody ever talked about it openly ever. Today it is on the internet on TV Social media kids openly discuss even how they are raised. The edge of what is socialy acceptable is constantly expanding and the shock value of edgyness no longer exsists. So when someone steps over that line all it does is expands the line these days for the next person. As a parent my kids have been raised to follow the ten commandments. Society can go where it wants I have no control but my kids do not have to follow it and they can make their own way in life. So far I am very proud of my kids. They have never let me down.
my kids (which will never exist) would be allowed to do pretty much anything. there would always be enforcement of consequence. "if A, then B" type of thing. the kid has free reign to do whatever he/she wants, but the consequences of those actions (good or bad) are known in advance and will be carried out to the letter.
"getting in trouble" then becomes something that a child wills himself/herself into--it never is a surprise.
I agree with that to a point. I try not to restrict my kid too much but there are set boundaries and consequences if she breaks those boundaries. IMO it's the best way to prepare them for an adult life where there really isn't any gray area.Quote:
Originally Posted by inperfectdarkness
I am pretty sure that in 1966 a man named Charles Whitman shot several classmates in Austin, Texas. The thing I see now is that when a kid in California is abducted we hear about it in Tennessee. When I was a kid we only heard about things that happened locally. We also have 24hr coverage that when a kid in Iowa goes missing we see it on the tv for 3 days straight and we see it day and night. I have only heard of people taking their own children where I live. Not once have I known anyone who had a child taken or a family member taken. Nor have they known anyone that it has happened to. If it were as common as we are lead to believe then I think I would have at least met someone that it happened to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Emilie@GZP
Bath, Michigan 1927 School BombingQuote:
Originally Posted by Emilie@GZP
i agree that the world in general is pretty safe. but what about stuff like sports? most sports have progressed in the past 30 years and imho are a lot more dangerous, although safety has also improved. stuff like skateboarding, bmx, motocross, wakeboarding ect. the 'norms' in those sports have progressed to the point where children/teens see there idols jumping/flipping/doing crazy things and they push themselves to be like that. there wasn’t any 12 year olds trying to do a 60' back flip on there mini bike back in the 70's, yet now-a-days you can find youtube videos of lots of amateurs trying to flip... and most of them crashing badly. as a parent what do you do? not let your kid participate in the sport he/she wants to, or do you limit what there aloud to do in the sport? i was watching a video in which Drake Mcelroy's mother was interviewed and she recalled that the first time she saw Drake take his hands and feet off the bike in mid air she grounded him for 2 weeks... now hes a professional freestyle motocrosser.
As a parent I ask who is buying the 12 year old a motocross bike? In your post you mention a lot of sports that require expensive gear. Does the 12 year old finance his own sport? Or does the parent? And that is your answer IMHO.Quote:
Originally Posted by thor'svr4
The way i see it the world is just as safe as 50 years ago, 100 years ago even 1000 years ago. the reason we fear so much for are childs "saftey" is instictive. our brains are hardwired to interpt information we hear as fact, as a imediate danger to ourselves. this is becuase a 10,000 years ago when we heard news of a threat it likely would be a very near threat that could actualy hurt uss. thats becuase we only had word of mouth aka probably not more then twenty miles away. now with the mass media (internet, tv, newspapers) we hear of all these dangers and are brain cant interpt that these may be occuring thousends of miles away instead it causes us to fear things which have very little chance of actually happening to us. As a parent i know my son faces no real dangers for the most part, not saying there not out there but they are hugly exagerated. if he wants to shoot a bb gun he can shoot a bb gun, if he wants to play army in the woods with his freinds, he can play army in the woods, if he wants to drive a go cart he can drive a go cart. those things wont hurt him and most things wont. I dont plan on having a sheltered kid, who dosent know the joys of having a childhood outside of sitting inside in front of an xbox.
I’m much more protective over my kids than my parents were with me. I’m lucky to be alive after all the stupid crap I did as a kid. There is more to worry about these days but yeah some of it is paranoia.