The Overprotected American Child

Post by cosmojg » Sun, Jun 03, 2018, 2:23 AM UTC

5DFractalTetris wrote: post #110

bayonetz wrote: post #107

The proliferation of these overprotective practices reminds me of the proliferation of simpler practices we impose on kids like showering regularly and wearing clean clothes that we just take for granted now. The link in my mind is how you can pick most any practice that is common amongst a majority of the population today and look back 50, 200, sometimes 2000 years and you can trace it back to a minority aristocrati…

It used to be said that certain kings or personages were made of glass and that if you touched them, they would shatter and the kingdom would fall. Much like a regular private hot bath, I fail to see the value of a Glass King. Once I visited the UK and some kids threw lit firecrackers into my scarf. Then all the adults kept drinking. I assume America is currently behind the times, Europe having since updated the myth…

Post by Simon_says » Sun, Jun 03, 2018, 4:51 AM UTC

walshemj wrote: post #84

closeparen wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "20 percent of US children live in families with incomes below 50 percent of the national median income" This is a bizarre metric. If richer families started having children at a higher rate, or poorer families slowed down, the problem would be fixed? What if we simply cut the pay of the upper 50%, not even redistributing the income? That would lower median income, and therefore shrink the "less than 50% of median…

I thought poor families had more kids

Post by koide » Sun, Jun 03, 2018, 5:09 AM UTC

JackCh wrote: post #30

wallace_f wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don't think anyone is arguing for more dangerous products or safety precautions for toddlers. Maybe some people think that way. Colloquially, I've heard about a million times Europeans laugh at how ridiculous they think some laws are in that regard, such as Kinder eggs being banned in America.

Are kinder eggs actually a dangerous product, or are they just getting swept up by broader American legislation? It's my understanding the American law preventing the importation of kinder eggs is a law against inedible objects from being embedded inside edible objects, which seems generally reasonable. Generally. But are Kinder eggs actually dangerous? Are many European children dying because of Kinder eggs specific…

Post by koide » Sun, Jun 03, 2018, 6:56 AM UTC

JackCh wrote: post #126

koide wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would dispute the reasonableness of that law... Does it apply to cherries, olives, avocado, apples, pears, etc.?

As I understand it, it applies to corporations deliberately manufacturing foods that way. It would be ridiculous if the law applied to fruits, but it doesn't. And nobody would earnestly call for the law to be applied in that way except in an attempt to make some sort of rhetorical argument for allowing corporations to put inedible plastic objects inside of food.

Post by threatofrain » Sun, Jun 03, 2018, 7:41 AM UTC

aphextron wrote: post #51

watwut wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they ended in high paying profession and are reasonably happy then maybe their decision to follow advice given to them was right.

>If they ended in high paying profession and are reasonably happy then maybe their decision to follow advice given to them was right. Absolutely. These people make fantastic employees. But the world needs more than just employees.