On Tue, 4 Sep 2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> This is partly the more protective parent of today's doing. My kids
> routinely play games involving running which has them stretching the
> 'comfort zone' for my wife. We often 'discuss' where the boundaries
> should be and I find that my boundaries as a child were definitely
> more expansive than many parents would like them to be today. My
> feelings are that there are not any more dangerous people, animals or
> situations than I grew up with in todays world. We just here about
> them more on the TV, in the paper or on the web. So we end up with
> play dates and never letting the kids out of sight.
Sociologists have found that the desire to "protect" children has
increased greatly in the US over the last 20 years. Furthermore, such
things are cyclical and will probably change in the future as it is
thought to relate to children's relationships to their parents. There is,
of course, no data showing children are at greater risk today. For
example, school shootings have been steadily DECREASING over the last 20
years, we just hear about them more.
In 1970 if a kid told his or her parents, "I'm going to run 100 mile weeks
all summer so I can be all-county this fall in cross country." Most
parents would have though, "Great! My kid wants to work hard at
something!." I think today many parents would start to think, "Oh that's
too much!" "You should broaden your interests, not focus on one thing!";
"What if you get hurt?"; "What will happen if you put in all that work and
fail?"
What would your reaction be to your own child (not as a coach or
knowledgable runner, but as a parent)? What would most parents be today?
