This mom is really mad that her boys, and most kids, are not allowed to play in a normal manner and not coddle or guide them the entire time:
I often think about the world my boys will grow up in. I often get angry when I think about it.
Many years ago, there was a time where young boys could run around with their toy guns, killing the bad guys. You could take the toy guns away from the little boys, and they’d find something else around them – a stick, their fingers, etc – and pretend it was a gun. Today, those little boys – if caught doing that – are labeled as threats, and immediate action is taken to remove that threat from the group.
Modern parents, who drop everything all the time to sit and play with the child, who “needs attention,” or drop what they’re doing to help the child the second he or she gets frustrated? How is Joey going to deal with the fact that there won’t be anyone in his adult life who’s willing to stop what they’re doing, stop living their busy lives, to cater to his every whim?
As a young parent, I get to see firsthand the kind of struggle this mom is talking about. She points out all the same reasons that play advocates do about why we need to let kids explore with real life situations, like good guys and bad guys, and bullies (to some extent), and frustration. Coddling kids or helicopter parenting shelters kids from getting to experience the joys of accomplishment and independence that we all craved as kids and take for granted now as grown-ups.
I say get angry, Stephanie! Get angry, people! This is life and death stuff we’re talking about here.
Check out more of Stephanie Metz here.
Mental Flowers 