So, I read an article yesterday on Huffington post that really got me thinking and made me even step back and reanalyze my parenting a little......
But why have parents shifted from teaching self-reliance to becoming hovering helicopter parents who want to protect their children at all costs?
"I think it began in the fall of 1982, when seven people died after taking extra-strength Tylenol laced with poison after it left the factory," he says. Halloween was just around the corner, and parents began checking every item in the loot bags. Homemade brownies and cookies (usually the most coveted items) hit the garbage; unwrapped candy followed close behind.
That led to an obsession with their children's safety in every aspect of their lives. Instead of letting them go outside to play, parents filled their kid's spare time with organized activities, did their homework for them, resolved their conflicts at school with both friends and teachers, and handed out trophies for just showing up.
"These well-intentioned messages of 'you're special' have come back to haunt us," Elmore says. "We are consumed with protecting them instead of preparing them for the future. We haven't let them fall, fail and fear. The problem is that if they don't take risks early on like climbing the monkey bars and possibly falling off, they are fearful of every new endeavor at age 29."
Psychologists and psychiatrists are seeing more and more young people having a quarter-life crisis and more cases of clinical depression. The reason? Young people tell them it's because they haven't yet made their first million or found the perfect mate.
Teachers, coaches and executives complain that Gen Y kids have short attention spans and rely on external, instead of internal motivation. The goal of Growing Leaders is to reverse the trend and help young people become more creative and self-motivated so they can rely on themselves and don't need external motivation.
But why have parents shifted from teaching self-reliance to becoming hovering helicopter parents who want to protect their children at all costs?
"I think it began in the fall of 1982, when seven people died after taking extra-strength Tylenol laced with poison after it left the factory," he says. Halloween was just around the corner, and parents began checking every item in the loot bags. Homemade brownies and cookies (usually the most coveted items) hit the garbage; unwrapped candy followed close behind.
That led to an obsession with their children's safety in every aspect of their lives. Instead of letting them go outside to play, parents filled their kid's spare time with organized activities, did their homework for them, resolved their conflicts at school with both friends and teachers, and handed out trophies for just showing up.
"These well-intentioned messages of 'you're special' have come back to haunt us," Elmore says. "We are consumed with protecting them instead of preparing them for the future. We haven't let them fall, fail and fear. The problem is that if they don't take risks early on like climbing the monkey bars and possibly falling off, they are fearful of every new endeavor at age 29."
Psychologists and psychiatrists are seeing more and more young people having a quarter-life crisis and more cases of clinical depression. The reason? Young people tell them it's because they haven't yet made their first million or found the perfect mate.
Teachers, coaches and executives complain that Gen Y kids have short attention spans and rely on external, instead of internal motivation. The goal of Growing Leaders is to reverse the trend and help young people become more creative and self-motivated so they can rely on themselves and don't need external motivation.
What??? Wow, never in a million years. So, here is what I've concluded, it's time to go back to the good ole days! I never was inside, I remember as a little girl.... My parents MADE me stay outside!! Until dark!! Lol but, you know what? I had an imagination....i learned to be independent....i learned problem solving skills because my parents would always tell us to"figure it out"
Kids now days, idk, but....i know my son, sometimes, if he wasn't on his game it was "im soooo bored"
I honestly just told my son the other day I remember playing in the driveway with a bunch of hot wheels. We drew roads in the dirt and made different buildings out of rocks.
So, lets forget the norm.... Let your children be children. Don't be afraid to let them get dirty...
That dirt your child just ate, it's not gonna kill em
That scraped knee, it don't need stitches
Let your kid be a kid and be there if they need lifting up. Prepare them for the future.... Don't protect em from it.
Kids now days, idk, but....i know my son, sometimes, if he wasn't on his game it was "im soooo bored"
I honestly just told my son the other day I remember playing in the driveway with a bunch of hot wheels. We drew roads in the dirt and made different buildings out of rocks.
So, lets forget the norm.... Let your children be children. Don't be afraid to let them get dirty...
That dirt your child just ate, it's not gonna kill em
That scraped knee, it don't need stitches
Let your kid be a kid and be there if they need lifting up. Prepare them for the future.... Don't protect em from it.
Yea, he is playing with sticks! Lol
Just running!!
I do believe that smile says it all 😍
Muahs (read full article here)
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1249706
Muahs (read full article here)
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1249706
