The Nanny State! Are we becoming over protected and pampered!?
I saw this photo today and it amused me, and then got me thinking! You can see above this image from the 'good ol days' when kids were kids and could get up to ALL sorts of mischief. If they were caught a copper (policeman) would give the kid a good clip around the ear! These days the kid would get the police arrested for doing something like that! Oh how times have changed!
Can you even IMAGINE this happening today? What changed? Was everyone just a bit crazy back in the good ol days? Were kids getting killed every day in crazy accidents and dangerous adventures. Well who can say really for sure, but here is what i think:
When you over pamper you also stop kids learning.. It's ONLY when you've climbed a huge tree when you were a kid that you can learn the agility and balance you need to accomplish it. My dear friend Ula who was only 8 when i used to see her climb 100 foot trees with NO SHOES! AMAZING. She is so strong and fearless and never once got hurt!
It almost seems like kids these days have a HARD time learning so many essential skills, like just basic things like balance, adventure, cooking, and so on. This overprotection by state seems to me to be the new way to control everything and make it all so predictable and 'safe'. Kids these days seem much more sensible these days than they were in this photo, and being honest, it seems VERY dull and sad in comparison.
When i was a kid i used to get up to ALL sorts of mischief! Mostly on my bike playing out in the streets all day, going here and there.. even when i was just 6 years old. I think many parents would call that irresponsible, and I'm sure in some countries the CPS would turn up and take your fucking child away for letting them play unsupervised!
Well, whatever the reasons one thing is for sure.. I will not be over pampering my kids if i EVER get around to having them!.. I will teach them to be adventurous, and take risks, and to be careful! In that way I think my kids will be all the better and in so many ways.
How do we say NO to people who SOUND so logical in their reasoning? How to we defend ourself to do what we thing is healthy for our kids? How do we remain guilt free when we are doing things so differently to the rest of society? There are many ways of course, but for me the simple answer is to remove your self and family from cities where these rules are enforced and join smaller communities in remote places where people can live as they wish without the imposition of State and the system to tell YOU how to live your life! It may not be an easy option, but it is the ONLY sensible one! ;-)
Id love to hear from you if you let your children run free, and how you see them benefitting from it!
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That's so bang on Alex. As kids we used to wait for the evening time to gather up in the play area and not come home till late evenings till we really had some warnings. During vacations we sisters were always on the explore mode. Things have changed so much, we need to push kids to step out otherwise they are just glued to the games and tv. We had a tv schedule only on Sunday evening which was like a feast time, but if you try to do that now you are finished...hahaha
@eco-alex, We as parents are too overprotective when the children are out to play. We do need to give them more freedom and stop covering them up so much with safety equipment etc. With that said another issue about protection is playing without watching over them. It would be so awesome to get the children outside playing with kids on the block. Tag, hide and go seek, kick the can, street hockey and so much more but sadly even in a small community most neighbourhoods are not safe. Concerns today are drugs being sold in parks, unleashed vicious dogs, bullies, pedophiles and so much more. Was this all going on when I grew up? is it more prevalent now? I think we have a more perverse society with no conscious of doing what is right. I live in a small community and I am so disheartened by the people. Been wondering if I should move but then where would I go? We have become a socialist society where people are watching everything and ready to pounce to call the law. Until the people go back to the way they were, honesty, integrity, loyality, selfgoverned instead of depending on the law for everything, our society will continue to degrade. As our society degrades it makes it hard to give independance to our children for fear of them being taken away, injured or worse. I would love to see the streets filled with children's laughter and play just not sure it is possible anymore. Uggg, I sound so negative but it is the way it is.
thank you
"Concerns today are drugs being sold in parks, unleashed vicious dogs, bullies, pedophiles and so much more."
i think its all brainwashing and fear mongering.. its MUCH safer today than it was not so long ago.. i mean really.. ok sure if you are one of the few in a REALLY bad area then maybe i get it.. but by in large is rampant paranoia and fear.. and with tech as it there days you can put a geo fence around your kids to know when they stray too far.. you can have them tracked, monitored if you really want.. but i think people have been led to believe that the world is not safe when really 99% of the time things are just fine.. and for that 1% we lock the world up in fear ;-(
That is a possibility but when you live in a decent area and see it first hand it blows your mind. 2 months ago my niece decided to let her 6 year old venture to the park himself to give him some independence, after all, it was just across the street. There was a dog attack just 20 feet from him. She said just a coincidence but it sure gives a parent butterflies in their stomach knowing it could have been her son. anyway, you are right, one can not be paranoid over what might happen. Think on the negative and the negative will happen.
Hi @eco-alex
before I read your line about not having kids I was asking myself "does the author actually have kids?). Things like overbearing safety in playgrounds are about protecting local authorities from litigation, thats it, end of. Its the litigation culture that has been imported from the USA that's scaring everybody into a fear of accidents etc.
In the real world, kids are constantly taking risks, climbing trees, swimming in rivers and whatever else, well they are in my experience anyway.
Of course I can't speak for everyone!
Im sure that is a part of the story, but I think there is more to it.. all a part of the sterile predictable pleasantville people are being bred into!
Thanks for commenting p-props
It's shocking how wrapped in cottonwool our kids are today, I fear for there future I really do .With my ex I took her boy into the woods and showed him how to chop wood and light a fire, all good skills. When he talked about it at school he was tole that was dangerous and never to do it. You can imagine my reaction being told I should not be teaching him these skill, obviously the school and I did not get on. Kids are taught to repeat what they are told and never to think for themselves is sapping out humanity from them at an early age 💯🐒
Ugh! Lost for words;;
Indeed but we need to keep doing these things and explaining why we are. This is the only way people will see sense and change their ways, the second we bow down and conform the freedom and skills are lost in time 💯🐒
Yep.
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We did not get here by accident. With modern conveniences we got pampered and lazy. Also the greatest generation (ww2 era) did not want their children going though what they endured. so their children the Baby Boomers, were spoiled. Now three generations later we have the nanny state of adults and kids who never become real men and women. So I guess arrests are made on occasion to control the disobedience and disrespect of authority that these generations have from being pampered and nannied. LOL Thanks @eco-alex.
We for sure let our little 4 year old human run free Alex. You're on point with the overprotection delema. He can we learn balance and agility (as little ones) if we aren't allpwed to climb trees!
I like the idea of Adventure Playgrounds but I'm not sure we can get away with building one in the US without having some sort of child protection agency breathing down our backs... and this being a sue happy society it may be hard to find insurance against an court attack if a child scratches a knee on an oil drum or something.
That being said, the first time he climed a tree with 3 older kids, my heart wasn't at ease very much... It was easier to simply hope for the best and not watch too much.
I see many helicopter parents there are quite a lot who have smartened up in that sector. If our little guy cries he usually got really hurt, minor scruffs and stuff were never made a big deal of.
I was listening to Jordan Peterson talk and he pointed out that we want to make our kids strong so they can overcome adversities - not to over protect them so they never learn how to rise up to challenges.
We had a wonderful community out in the forest here where the kids were out playing in the bush all day. They would be making forts, go bike riding or even go fishing. We had a lake in our community where we all gathered for a late afternoon swim when the work was done. Ontop of this we had a kids club where we did lots with the kids for many of them were home schooled. It was a wonderful place to raise kids. Myself we had a neighbor hood of kids and we would be outside playing together all day too. Now a days folks hardly know there neighbors.
totally agree! how can we learn if never given the opportunity.. glad there are people like us around to keep reminding everyone!!! <3
Yup, the nanny state is overprotective from that perspective, but they now kill the children slowly with pharma, that's far more profitable.