Parents are going to ludicrous lengths to take the bumps out of life for their children. However, parental hyperconcern has the net effect of making kids more fragile; that may be why they're breaking down in record numbers.
Maybe it's the cyclist in the park, trim under his sleek metallic blue helmet, cruising along the dirt path... at three miles an hour. On his tricycle.
Or perhaps it's today's playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And... wait a minute... those aren't little kids playing. Their mommies—and especially their daddies—are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves.
Then there are the sanitizing gels, with which over a third of parents now send their kids to school, according to a recent survey. Presumably, parents now worry that school bathrooms are not good enough for their children.
Read the entire article here: A Nation of Wimps
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5 comments:
Some good points here.
Kids don't play as much as they used to. We used to go out into the woods behind my parent's house for hours after school, when it was time for dinner my Dad used a fog horn to get our attention. They refused to get cable TV or buy video games. Sometimes we got hurt, sometimes we just got dirty.
The section on cell phones couldn't be more accurate. I know I rely on mine far too much. What did we do before cell phones? I can't believe the quote about the student who called to say the ice cream had sprinkles on the top and bottom!
Wow. All that stuff about college students...
I was glad to contribute to the blog with the article.
JCB,
This drives me nuts! Very few parents let their kids roam around and figure things out for themselves. Parents look at my wife and I cross eyed all the time because of the way we just let our kids play. I guess this is one reason my kids are running circles around most other kids on the playground.
My kids barely get sick. Here's my secret: Let them crawl around on the gym floor at an early age and lick the kettlebells and BJJ mats. My 4 year old used to this when she was an infant. She's never been on anti-biodics.
Peace,
Mike
So worth the read. Thanks for posting.
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