Here's a few random guesses at causation: 1. Kindergarten redshirting 2. Most Kindergartens in the US now are half-day (EDIT: this is false) 3. Helicopter parenting 4. Family & Medical Leave Act ('93) + Longer maternity/paternity leave allowances by employees 5. An increase in single-parent households on some sort of welfare/assistance program (i.e. the single parent is at home and cannot work) 6. Increase in the num…
> Kindergarten redshirting
Shifting age eligibility probably had a bigger effect than redshirting.
Probably because helicopter parenting is in vogue (at least in the US). It is seriously messed up that you can have CPS called on you for letting your kid wander freely in the neighborhood
I can't get my kids out of the house. I try. All of their friends are on SnapChat and/or Steam games. No one leaves their rooms. It is really depressing. Kids are not getting fresh air anymore.
Did you put effort into raising them to behave differently?
The problem is that 90% of the time the parents are now on their phones. Seriously I find myself on my phone and not interacting with my kids at times and I am super sensitive about phones. I don't allow phones during meals, during family time and not when someone is talking with you. I break my own rules a ton :(
Parents are beat. Both my now ex-wife and I had a burnout in the last 2 years. Work demands are higher than ever and our kids were also demanding. /edit The reason we're on our phones is that we're just too damn tired to interact with humans properly.
>Work demands are higher than ever
I suspect you meant this within the context of your own life, but historically that's almost certainly untrue. 50 years ago you likely would've had a job doing much more grueling work in less comfortable conditions. Conversely, your ex-wife would not have had an income producing job at all and after the age of 4-5 would've sent the kid outside for significant portions of the day.
The problem is that 90% of the time the parents are now on their phones. Seriously I find myself on my phone and not interacting with my kids at times and I am super sensitive about phones. I don't allow phones during meals, during family time and not when someone is talking with you. I break my own rules a ton :(
I've mentioned this before on here, but for me tossing the smart phone and getting a flip phone has utterly changed the dynamic with my children. It has been 3 months, and I am still amazed (although I guess I shouldn't be) that being actually present with them when we interact has seemed to reduce their neediness/anxiety and improved our relationship/bond. If you can, I recommend giving it a try.
I want to do this, but my one hangup is the lack of a decent camera. I know that I probably don’t need to document my kid’s life as much as I do, but I do like being able to share moments with my own parents, who live a ways away. How did you handle this aspect of the change? Do you carry a dslr or point and shoot, or do you just go without (or have flip phone cameras improved a ton since my last one)?
But probably different people. Communities are very capable of holding conflicting viewpoints.
The point is, only angry and negative people voice their opinions and positively minded people don't. If you look at threads about something else, (say economy or politics) there are typically both optimostic and pessimistic people and even some discussions between those groups. When it comes to parenting and children, positive opinions are rarely heard.
Are you angry and negative about the negativity of the opinions expressed on the internet?
I can't get my kids out of the house. I try. All of their friends are on SnapChat and/or Steam games. No one leaves their rooms. It is really depressing. Kids are not getting fresh air anymore.
Sounds like a problem of the US. It’s not (yet) like that in Europe. We spend a lot of time outside with kids not matter how bad the weather is.
Don’t listen to one anecdotal opinion and conclude it’s a US problem. My neighbors kids are outside almost everyday after school and I know of others who have sports practice and other daily activities that aren’t spent inside.
The main difference between US and Europe is the way the cities are setup. Much more walkable and urban centric in EU. Populations are much denser. It was a nice change of pace to be able to walk everywhere last year when I was in Italy.
The point is, only angry and negative people voice their opinions and positively minded people don't. If you look at threads about something else, (say economy or politics) there are typically both optimostic and pessimistic people and even some discussions between those groups. When it comes to parenting and children, positive opinions are rarely heard.
Honestly, if you want to make a point, you should work on the way you phrase it. > only angry and negative voice their opinions i.e. bad people > positively minded i.e. good people I know you probably didn't think about it that much. Personally, I could start a rant about toxic culture now, but I'll leave it at that. If you don't want to create an aggressive response, maybe refrain from calling people that disagree w…
I hope you can appreciate the irony of ranting about angry people :)
Mystery power outages that seem to hit only our house have been known to occur in my neighborhood on fine weather days. It's like a ghost in the breaker box or something...
Kids today learn faster than we did also. One they he will fix the breaker box for you and its GG dad. I truly consider that my kid will be able to use the internet against me in ways inimaginable. Its exciting!
"Man I have no idea where we keep the key for this thing"
Probably because helicopter parenting is in vogue (at least in the US). It is seriously messed up that you can have CPS called on you for letting your kid wander freely in the neighborhood
You won’t have CPS called on you for letting your children wander and play in the neighbor. Please don’t spread nonsense. Edited with my response to everyone depositing articles about the Meitivs: Nobody “called CPS on” the Meitivs. Somebody called the polic because they saw the children wandering around a parking garage (not a park like in many of the news stories. See [1].) The police officer then called CPS severa…
> You won’t have CPS called on you for letting your children wander and play in the neighbor. Please don’t spread nonsense.
You're absolutely wrong and I know first hand of a couple of neighbors where exactly this has happened.
Just because you haven't experienced it first hand it doesn't mean you have proof positive that it never occurs.
It's interesting that reactions to stories about parenting are always default-negative no matter what. People are saying this stat just shows we are smothering our children. Had it been the opposite (half as much time), people would be accusing parents of outsourcing childcare.
Capitalism often preys on fear, and it's incredibly easy to scare someone about their children. It's probably some of the easiest clickbait someone could write (i.e., won't somebody please think of the children?!).
As a parent I was kind of surprised by the instinct to protect your children at all costs. I knew it existed, but feeling it is a different beast. It's hard to always be conscious of it, and many people aren't at all.