Why helicopter parenting may jeopardize kids' health - PBS NewsHour

[question everything]

Has protective parenting gone too far? Several high-profile news stories, along with increasing rates of childhood obesity, anxiety and depression, have sparked a movement encouraging parents to allow their children greater freedom. The nonprofit Let Grow is leading the call for what’s known as “free range parenting,” in which kids can just be kids

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https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-helicopter-parenting-may-jeopardize-kids-health

[wasupaloopa]

1. When I was a kid in the 50's my mom put us out of the house

in the morning and said to come back at supper time.

[question everything]

2. Same here

[PBC_Democrat]

3. Same here, but in the 60's and early 70's

By today's dumb-ass rules our parents would have been a ton of trouble with Child Protective Services.

In 1970 I was given a Yamaha 125 ... way cooler than my friend's mini-bikes. I would blast out of the yard in the morning and only come home for lunch and gas. BTW, I was 15 and no license.

We're robbing kids of the opportunity to learn, make mistakes and learn from them, and just explore the world.

[KT2000]

4. same here

my mom had a boat whistle to call us for dinner. My rule at the time was - If my mother didn't know what I was doing, I could do anything I wanted. Did get caught a couple times riding my bike to the next town and got in trouble only because I was too late to hear the boat whistle for dinner. Lesson learned - get back before the boat whistle.

[JayhawkSD]

5. "I was raised free range" is not a valid argument.

I happen to think it is a better way to raise kids, but the fact that I was raised that way is not an argument. Yes, I think I turned out fine, but that's only my opinion. How many people will tell you they didn't turn out okay. A few, but not many.

More to the point is that kids learn from their mistakes. If you never let them touch the stove, then they are okay as long as you are hovering over them not letting them touch the stove. Once they are on their own, they don't just get a minor burn, they get killed because what they touch is far hotter than the stove.