Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Famous
Doesn't every generation say stuff like this about the youth of their day?
|
This is very true.
That said, I think we have less of an issue with kids being rude (such as when the whole teen phenomena was born in the post WW2 era) than we do with parents being over-protective.
I think the boomer parents that we are talking about were some of the first kids to experience a ready made (and promoted) youth culture. I wonder if this has some direct correlation to their own fears of safety for their children.
As I have said elsewhere, I have been a big advocate for independence for my kids. My son started to walk home from school by himself at grade five. He would also take the subway and street car by himself to come and meet me downtown. Four years later he is living in a foreign city and navigating it by himself.
My daughter (now 6) has permission to go outside to our local playground (just outside out condo's window) by herself. She just needs to give us a heads up that she is going out. She also roams about with her posse of like-minded little girls. She know where she is allowed to go and where she isn't (i.e. the pool). There are consequences if she breaks the rules (we are not parents to make conditions and not follow through).
Parenting isn't difficult. It's inconvenient at times but never really all that difficult. I find that many parents go out of their way to make it difficult.