Are we coddling children too much?

[Anonymous]

It’s more of a hustle thing op. As in, kid is slowly putting shoes on parent is outside the door has grabbed backpack and is setting the pace.

The real question is should a parent be walking with the kids at all. Allowing more independence is more important than not coddling from what I’ve seen. Builds tremendous confidence in kids.

[Anonymous]

It's the laptops. Kids' backpacks are injuriously too heavy.

[Anonymous]

Carrying the backpacks is not the issue…sometimes they are super heave for a small child to carry.

The problem is all the parents that won’t let their kid walk a few meters back to their house and insist on waiting in their cars to pick them up

[Anonymous]

Yes, we are.

My 3-year-old carries her own backpack

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I drove from the burbs into DC this morning, I noticed a 50/50 split of parents who carry their kid’s backpack vs those who do not.

Note: these were school-aged kids, not toddlers or preschoolers, and the bags weren’t excessively large.

Do you carry your kid’s backpack? Why?

Are we coddling kids too much?

I say sue the backpack manufacturers. And textbook publishers too.

#SystemicTeenOppression

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a 15 minute walk and my third grader carries a laptop (mandated by the school) and several textbooks. Also a lunch box and two water bottles. So yes, I sometimes carry the bag for him. It's heavy.

FCPS? Yes, same here except the walk is 20 mins. The bag weighs 23 pounds. I’d like to see OP carry over 1/3 of her weight for 40 mins every day.

And yet so many of us managed to do just that, walking through our friends to and from school every damn day. I guarantee our pile of textbooks weighed more than your kid’s Chromebook.

Oh, and we don’t have “spinal problems” either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a 15 minute walk and my third grader carries a laptop (mandated by the school) and several textbooks. Also a lunch box and two water bottles. So yes, I sometimes carry the bag for him. It's heavy.

FCPS? Yes, same here except the walk is 20 mins. The bag weighs 23 pounds. I’d like to see OP carry over 1/3 of her weight for 40 mins every day.

And yet so many of us managed to do just that, walking through our friends to and from school every damn day. I guarantee our pile of textbooks weighed more than your kid’s Chromebook.

Oh, and we don’t have “spinal problems” either.

walking *with* our friends, obviously

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. And we’ll reap the consequences.

We already are.

The obsession with wellness was well-intended but it’s gone overboard to the point where kids don’t learn independence and resilience. There is a lot of arrested development out there.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a 15 minute walk and my third grader carries a laptop (mandated by the school) and several textbooks. Also a lunch box and two water bottles. So yes, I sometimes carry the bag for him. It's heavy.

FCPS? Yes, same here except the walk is 20 mins. The bag weighs 23 pounds. I’d like to see OP carry over 1/3 of her weight for 40 mins every day.

And yet so many of us managed to do just that, walking through our friends to and from school every damn day. I guarantee our pile of textbooks weighed more than your kid’s Chromebook.

Oh, and we don’t have “spinal problems” either.

Nope. I brought home maybe a few books per night in my day. You could buy one of those big rubber bands to put around them. We didn’t have huge metal water bottles either. My doctor advises against carrying this amount of weight but I guess you know better, boomer.

[Anonymous]

The bags are way too heavy and will lead to back problems. The US doesn’t care about health enough. Carrying a back pack that is too heavy isn’t coddling. Driving your kid to school is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I drove my wagon through the farmland to town in 1900, I noticed a 50/50 split of parents who hoed their fields vs those who made their kids do so. Do you hoe your own fields? Why? Are we coddling kids too much?

Let’s be friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids carry their backpacks starting in K. But sometimes I'll carry it part of the way if it is super heavy (like on library day) because we have a long walk.

This seems like a strange thing to classify as coddling, though. I actually do think parents these days overreach in a lot of ways but this doesn't seem that significant.

I do it too. It's not great for their backs/posture when they are so young. When they are in older elementary/middle and have more strength I won't. My kids take responsibility in many other ways but I don't classify this one as coddling.

[Anonymous]

I carry my kindergartener's backpack most of the time. She's still really small and it's a full size backpack because otherwise it won't fit all the crap she has to take in it, or the projects that come home. Even when it's empty, I often take it from her when I pick her up because she will want to run around and be really active on the way home, which I encourage, and the backpack will just get in the way.

I really do not think this is a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I drove from the burbs into DC this morning, I noticed a 50/50 split of parents who carry their kid’s backpack vs those who do not.

Note: these were school-aged kids, not toddlers or preschoolers, and the bags weren’t excessively large.

Do you carry your kid’s backpack? Why?

Are we coddling kids too much?

Very perceptive observation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I drove my wagon through the farmland to town in 1900, I noticed a 50/50 split of parents who hoed their fields vs those who made their kids do so. Do you hoe your own fields? Why? Are we coddling kids too much?

Let’s be friends.

No the joke was lame