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This is something I have discussed a lot with a friend of mine and Colleen's question about the banning soccer ball thing (http://www.funadvice.com/q/banningsoccerballsschoolparentinjuredexcessive) got me thinking about this.
When I was in grade school (which really wasn't that long ago :P) we used to KICK soccer and basket balls at each other for FUN. In 2nd grade a teacher helped us build a HUGE snow fort and we split the class in half and took turns at recces and gym having snow ball wars. There was a very steep hill behind our grade school (that we really weren't supposed to go up :P) and we would clime up it and go skidding down it year round - not just when there was snow on the ground :P.
We would pile everyone on the old steel marigo round then get it going as fast as we could and be the last person on it. Throwing other people off was perfectly ok.
We would get
Sure we got a few bumps and bruises, but we had fun- and well acted like kids.
Now I talk to my younger siblings (the youngest of which is in 7th grade) and its a suspendable offense to even pick up snow, let alone throw it. I see news articles all the time about kids getting in trouble and parents all upset about things kids just naturally do - like snow ball fights.
So anyways do you think parents are too over protective of their kids? Or are the schools just too afraid of being sued?
I think that there are many parents who are overprotective. And not only does that cut the childs freedom, it is also bad for their health. When I was in primary, I would run around the neighborhood, walk to other kids doors, ring the bell and ask if they would come out to play.
Today, many of my sons friends don't do that. Instead their parents call me on the phone and ask if their kids can visit my kids. Many of those children play inside all day. Even though we live in a rural place.
I have allowed my kids to run about. My older son is 10 and he goes into the forest with his friends, plays by the creek, builds dams, collects sticks, observes animals, gets bitten by ants, and comes home again.
Now when other kids visit us, my son shows them around, takes them to his "cave" - a small hut build out of sticks and some other stuff he found in the woods, visits the neighbor where they will be allowed to feed and to pet the horses, goes to climb trees and all that stuff. And believe it or not, for some of them it is the first time they do that.
Can you imagine that there are 10 year old kids in rural areas who have never even climbed a tree? And who get out of breath when they run 200 meters? Kids who have never touched any tool because it is "too dangerous" for them to saw a stick, even under supervision of an adult? Kids who have never been out of their mothers sight? I call that overprotective.
They are kids. Let them be kids.
Yeah I do think some schools are afraid of being sued. Most schools are just scared of the parents that come in & yell. Some parents are either way too protective or not protective enough. My friend is 17 & is dad won't let him get a job, won't let him get a driving permit, can't leave the house unless its with his dad or going to school, very strict, & can't have a girlfriend. I call that too protective. My cousin, he's been expelled from 3 schools for smoking pot/getting drunk, been to court for it several times, his mom hates it but she still gives him money for it, lets him leave whenever he wants, he stole & crashed a car when he was 15 but she still let him get his license & even bought him a car, he even got an STD, she lets him get away with things, this isn't protective enough.
Yes. When I was a little kid my dad used to put me on his lap in his truck and let me steer. Naturally if we did get in an accident I would have been crushed between my dad and the steering wheel since it was a few years before energy absorbing steering columns. Most drivers saw seat belts as an insult to their driving skill. After 12 I was pretty much free. After school and all day in The Summer I went wherever I wanted however I wanted including cycling all over the countryside and hitchhiking. I just had to be home for dinner then home by dark. While parents were probably too lax when I was little now they have gone too far in the other direction.
Yeah, I definitely do think some parents need to lighten up and give there kids a little more freedom to just, well, be a kid. I mean, my whole childhood consisted of running around in my neighborhood and playing until almost dark. Kids in my neighborhood don't really do that.. it's kind of depressing actually, haha. Children need guidance & whatnot, but they also need to learn on their own. Experience is the only way they're truly going to understand things.
I know my parents were definitely over protective when I was younger.. My mother would not let me out of sight of the house until I was about 12.. that was only 4 years ago, and even now she panics when I run into the house and stuff.. My dad is more lenient, which is surprising, as normally fathers are more protective of their daughters.. but nope, my mum is definitely over protective
That sounds a lot like my childhood. I spent my time running around in the woods, playing with sticks, building tree forts, and having fun. By 10 I was splitting fire wood, and by 12 could run a small chain saw.
Sounds a lot like my friends childhood. His parents might have been a bit lax but his dad always believed in learning by doing. Learned more spending time at his house than anywhere else.
No..... They just want the best gor them. They don't want them to fall in the same pothole they fall in or any atall......
Xoxo
Some are, and then some aren't enough!
some are very much so :/
mine!!!
Some
