I spent this weekend working at a expo promoting the magazine, so my boss gave me the afternoon off today:) I decided to relax at home and catch some shows that I generally miss – including Dr. Phil. It was a very interesting show, featuring Lenore of Free Range Kids. Some of you may best remember her as the mother who sparked a huge controversy when she decided to let her 9 year old son ride a NY subway alone.
You will probably be very surprised to hear that Dr. Phil did not disagree with her decision and his show was actually quite interesting. Now, I don’t think I would go as far as to say I would allow my 9 year old alone on a subway in NY anytime soon, but I do agree that our society has become very very overprotective. Kneepads and helmets for kids so they don’t get scraps and bruises while learning to crawl/walk? Seriously?
Dr. Phil’s show talked about how many parents have become so worried about the “dangers” that instead of teaching our children how to deal with those dangers, we just keep them from experiencing things they are ready to experience. This show isn’t about being irresponsible. You need to teach your children safety rules and be realistic about what your child is capable of because each child is different – but then you need to allow your child to try new things and learn how to work with the world around them.
I know I have a tendancy to error on the side of underprotective but here is my view (which I know many people will disagree with). The line between overprotecting and underprotecting is VERY thin. I try to do my best to walk that line, but I would rather error on the side of slighty underprotective then to raise children who are incapable of taking care of themselves as they grow up. Do I know there are many dangers in the world? yes. Does that scare me? yes. But – we can only protect our children so much and the rest we must leave to God.
What do you think? Would you rather overprotect or underprotect your child?
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