Parenting has changed so much over the years, and I'm afraid that it's not a change for the better. Children are overprotected, undereducated, and overstimulated. Speaking to other parents and working with the public has given our household a sour view of current child raising technique.


25 years ago, it was not uncommon for a child to go outside and get dirty, unsupervised and make their own mistakes. While I do not support the idea that the past is an ideal time with no flaws, it doesn't mean we should just run downhill in our thinking. Drug wars, stranger danger teaching, and technological babysitters have moved our kids from running around til the porch light comes on to being stuck in the house with their electronics. Parents who used to be afraid of someone kidnapping their child are not afraid of cyber bullying. Now, instead of having a schoolyard bully and children who learned social cues protect themselves, we have parents piping every bully on the planet straight into your home computer. While we don't believe that violence solves every problem, there are a few times in young life where the knowledge and confidence of standing up for yourself builds character and teaches lessons. Until an age where diplomacy and intelligence can win battles, a schoolyard scuffle can be the stepping stone to debate on the senate floor. If you ask me, the senate floor is a far more brutal ground. Even if your lofty expectations of political success for your child aren't achieved, being able to defend oneself at that level is a skill that every adult should have. So why is it acceptable for your child to only be able to spell in text speak?


Today, society believes in dumbing down children so they do not have the tools to defend themselves, make proper decisions, or one day become adults. Your child, one day, is going to reach an adult age. Whether or not they have an adult brain, adult emotional understanding, and adult skills is ENTIRELY up to the parent. Your job as a parent is not just to give it a life and babysit for 18 years. You have committed to giving the child building blocks they need to be a successful person. Child personality is formed by the age of 4. If you haven't taught your child basic sharing and when it is (and is not) appropriate to express themselves by the age of 4, you are pretty much fucked. After that, it's all about expanding on the basics. Children are not being taught how to cope with disappointment, sadness, loss, happiness, bullying, bad grades, good grades, failure, or success. Children are instead being put in front of television, given a soda or something, and medicated when the sedentary activities combines with sugar make them more hyper than average. This is not to say that you should unplug your television, but there are books, parks, games, sports, and learning activities. God forbid, they might get dirty. Sodas, tv, video games, and computers have their place. They, like other tools, are useful. They are not, however, cure all babysitters or means of raising children. This is the same philosophy that says a wrench can't fix every car problem. Interaction with other adults and children, along with time in public, teach children the skills to deal with people and the problems that come with life.



Parents believe that their way of raising children is the only way, and have adopted non-confrontational parenting techniques while maintaining confrontation with anyone that logically challenges their system. While I believe that this sums up my point, you have parents teaching their children to be polite while cussing phone customer service in front of them. The lesson, scream long enough and you'll get what you want. Fighting isn't the answer anymore, but verbal assault and threats are just fine. Bullying has moved from the schoolyard, where at least some skill was involved, to a computer where any tantrum throwing ninny that can spell becomes a bully. This gives rise to two flaws. The first is that everyone should care about your child's feelings and give them validation, which leads to a child not learning to validate themselves. Do your want your child to believe everything the unwashed masses tell them, or do you want a child that thinks for themselves and builds their own self-esteem. That is why they call it SELF-esteem, not neighbor's-esteem-for-you. The second is that not even crime requires skill anymore, and a little fake information removes the risk. This means that teaching children not to harm one another is harder when the bullied have no recourse to even defend themselves, let alone call on help.


This is, after all, just a rant and doesn't even close to cover all the flaws I see with parents and other people's kids, lol. Take it for what it is.