Reply to Fragile Children =

Forum Index » Political Discussion

Reply to "Fragile Children ="

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Fragile Parents = Fragile Americans. As a parent, I clicked on this video because I am interested in some of the issues kids have these days. But I really think much of what he says goes beyond children and really reflects our larger society. It’s a quick video and worth a watch because he’s correct; this isn’t good for us. It isn’t just kids with problems; it’s adults.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/QvrMNDv6iYU[/youtube][/quote]

He jumped the shark at 1:19. I agreed with everything he said up until then.....social media, 9/11, decrease in recess, decrease in independent play, etc. and then he jumped to "when we protect children form X, Y,Z...we are setting them up to be weak". Nope, bullying doesn't make a stronger person.
 
Yet again, there is someone who is saying we do X and then going to complete opposite B and ignoring the middle. No, an adult should not always be around and protect them from failure but an adult does need to be around during prime development to support them and assist them in navigating. It is one thing to be completely protective of your child, never let them take risks or fail. It is not the same as supporting your child when they do fail, helping them think through what could of been done differently, teaching them at a young age when they are navigating difficult/dangerous equipment "okay what is your next step. talk through what you want to do next" or instilling in them "you can do dangerous things as long as you do it safely". We end up trying to correct in middle school and high school what we don't teach or focus on in early education and elementary school.  And he did go back to that towards the end with education but his earlier statement about protecting kids from bullying and making them weak rings false to me especially since bullying is related to tribalism, the very thing he talks about in the end.

Regarding the subway....most Americans are isolationists. We have seen plenty of footage of children being harassed, women being accosted, etc. and people just look the other way. The subway can be a dangerous place and a 9-year-old is vulnerable ESPECIALLY if the adults will not intercede or act as community protection. While violent crime may still be going down, crimes against children are historically underreported.

I want my kid to walk to school but there aren't crossing guards after the first block even though our county doesn't offer buses for kids within a mile of the school and our street does not have sidewalks.  The ridiculous thing is that there are no guards a block down from the elementary school but there is a guard at the high school (like WTF?). There is no community support structure. There are no moms at home watching out for other kids. I plan on walking him for Kindergarten the whole way, meeting him after the 1st crossing in 1st, after the 2nd crossing in 2nd, and the 3rd crossing in 3rd but it gives me a lot of anxiety even though I know he needs the opportunity to do these things independently (but with support removed gradually and in an age-appropriate manner).

As to the point about fragility. T[b]he world of an 8-year-old in the mid-1900s, including the 1980s, was significantly reduced compared to the world of a kid in the 1990s and beyond. Imagine if your 8-year-old literally only knew your house, their neighborhood, the grocery store, camps/sports, the road to grandmother's house, maybe a plane trip (although unlikely), some parks, TV, and school. Thats it. That is not the world that a current 8-year-old exists in. [/b]

As a whole, our lives and how we interact with one another and teach children have not caught up to the technological advancements we have made and the way our communities changed in light of those advancements. [/quote]

I think this is an argument for keeping the lives of our children smaller.  People today want to expose their kids to "the world" by which they mean as many experiences and exposure to different people as possible.  But that has always felt unnecessary to me.  Expose them as they are ready, but there is nothing wrong with keeping their worlds small and manageable for them, where they can gain confidence and mastery.  The world today is too big for most adults to handle, let alone kids. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics