a peek inside the fishbowl

1 | mrsgryphon

February 4th, 2010 at 2:32 am

Just set the PVR, thanks for the heads-up!!

2 | Hilary

February 4th, 2010 at 6:48 am

John Doyle wrote an amusing piece on this program in the Globe today. (Well, amusing to me – very possibly not to others.) Boy, he does not like today’s generation of kids!

3 | coffeewithjulie

February 4th, 2010 at 9:04 am

Okay, I’ll be watching! (And hoping that I am not screwing up my kids by NOT doing all these things! I have the opposite worry – maybe I’m not doing enough?)

4 | Pete M

February 4th, 2010 at 9:49 am

I read an interesting book called The Self-Esteem Trap by Polly Young-Eisendrath (our city’s library has copies). And there’s a section on helicopter parents. But the main thrust of the book is how to avoid these pitfalls and to avoid emphasizing that your child is special all the time. This movement of the last 20 or 30 years where every child is told they are “special” may lead to two very different behaviours: 1) the child starts to develop a feeling of entitlement or 2) the child feels enormous pressure to live up to the “special” billing. I remember there’s also a passage on helicopter parents.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book to any parent. Some of the chapter names are telling:

“the importance of adversity”
“the necessity of conscience and virtue”
“autonomy and emotional maturity”
“the value of being ordinary”

The subtitle of the book is “raising confident and compassionate kids in an age of self-importance”.

5 | Betsy Mae

February 4th, 2010 at 9:50 am

I’m going to PVR it now.

6 | Shannon

February 4th, 2010 at 10:20 am

I’m really looking forward to watching this tonite. I’ll go set the PVR now in case something comes up. Thanks for the reminder!

7 | bushidoka

February 4th, 2010 at 12:52 pm

If you like this show, be sure to follow this blog

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/

8 | Loukia

February 4th, 2010 at 1:38 pm

Wow. At first I was all like, “I totally fit that description – I’m a helicopter mom, and a hyper parent!” But reading on… no, I’m not that at all.

I don’t ever put pressure on my children to do certain things by a certain age, etc. I am just VERY VERY VERY present in their lives, very interactive with them, always playing with them, etc. I’m not the mom who leave her kids in the basement to play while she goes upstairs to drink her coffee with the other adults – NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT – my God, I wish I could do that, so my kids can gain some independence! However, my oldest is only 4, and actually, now he is totally able to play on his own with friends, etc. But my youngest, only 2, needs me there all the time.
My kids are only NOW enrolled in something – swimming. Once a week. C’est tout. I’m not all about getting them involved in every sport/activity under the sun so they can be excellent at something and so I’ll have bragging rights – no freaking way. Quality family time is more important. Playing outside is important. I’d never pressure them one way or another. Anyway, still, a show I’d watch for sure!

9 | kaitlin

February 4th, 2010 at 2:05 pm

Bushidoka, I would argue that you can’t draw a parallel between a show that hasn’t aired yet (unless you’ve seen the advance copy as well?).

Furthermore, while I appreciate that the goal of FRK is similar to what the premise of this show is, my opinion on FRK is that it objectifies children. It’s aim is not without merit, but it seems as though it’s more important to brand the parenting style than actually use it. Just my two cents.

As a twenty-something faced with anxiety issues from overactive parenting, I identify with the show, but I haven’t decided if I’ll watch.

10 | LO

February 4th, 2010 at 6:43 pm

And there’s the other side-Parents that don’t care about their kids, don’t provide guidance and don’t raise them…rather, they raise themselves. It’s an epidemic! People need to think more before bringing children into the world…….just playing the other side a bit:)

11 | Rebecca

February 4th, 2010 at 7:21 pm

I’m not sure if I’ll watch tonight, but I will say this: I fear when parents and children are labelled: hyper parents, free range kids, helicopter etc etc.

I feel that at different times, in different situations, I am a little bit of many parenting styles. I’m sure the documentary highlights parents that are quite extreme, but I would hesitate to assume any of us are 1 style of parenting. It depends on our kids, our opportunities etc. that help determine how we parent.

Either way, I do think it will likely be an intereseting, if not slightly frustrating, documentary.

12 | Amanda

February 4th, 2010 at 8:23 pm

Watching right now! I work with many families who fit this description to a T! Life of a preschool should be about PLAY, PLAY & PLAY! Learning to socialize with other chidlren, easing into various situations and exploring their own backyard and neighborhood parks. It’s time we gave our children back their childhood!

13 | Hyper parents and coddled kids >> a peek inside the fishbowl

February 5th, 2010 at 9:32 am

[…] liked Rebecca’s comment in my short post about this the other day. We’re all a little hyper sometimes, aren’t we? It depends on the situation. My mother thinks […]

14 | andrea

February 5th, 2010 at 9:33 am

Thanks for your comments everyone. I’ve posted a few of my own thoughts about this today…