Hilarious.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Wussification of American Children
About an hour ago a friend of mine introduced me to one of my brand new favorite-est websites
THE ART OF MANLINESS
The shear volume of information and direct nature of the text really outshines any alleged Man's Magazine that you would see at the local grocery store. Plus, it has a vintage feel of 19th century art and imagery - which goes against the grain of the post-modern GQ womanizer image that is thrust upon us today. Anywho, one of the articles under Relationships and Family was titled (and subsequently linked)
Quit Coddling Your Kids
It's a quick 5 minute read with a very interesting 9 minute video attachment that discusses how parenting has altered since the time of the baby boomers right up to Gen X parents. The synopsis was that as parents spent less time with their children, their personal needs for acceptance and validation as a loving parent drove them to behave as the child's friend more so than a traditional role of mother or father. As Gen X babies grew up with more and more lax environments they too subsequently portrayed even more exacerbated behavior.
THE ART OF MANLINESS
The shear volume of information and direct nature of the text really outshines any alleged Man's Magazine that you would see at the local grocery store. Plus, it has a vintage feel of 19th century art and imagery - which goes against the grain of the post-modern GQ womanizer image that is thrust upon us today. Anywho, one of the articles under Relationships and Family was titled (and subsequently linked)
Quit Coddling Your Kids
It's a quick 5 minute read with a very interesting 9 minute video attachment that discusses how parenting has altered since the time of the baby boomers right up to Gen X parents. The synopsis was that as parents spent less time with their children, their personal needs for acceptance and validation as a loving parent drove them to behave as the child's friend more so than a traditional role of mother or father. As Gen X babies grew up with more and more lax environments they too subsequently portrayed even more exacerbated behavior.
"Generation X parents are even worse about coddling their kids. To many many Gen X parents, children are just an accessory you get to dress up with ironic t-shirts and fauxhawks."
Most of my blogs have been more theoretical, even borderline rhetorical, not 
allowing for a lot of direct dialogue and interaction with the audience (that's you, btw). And seeing that both you Aubry and Susan & Justin and Jessica both have lovely young daughters of your own. I wanted to see what your reaction was to the article and video above.
How willing and able do you think you could be at allowing your children to engage in potentially dangerous situations without supervision?
As this trend of hyper-protectivity (not a real word) continues and your children's peers are winy little brats who always get what they want and are rewarded for mediocrity, what will you do to educated them on how they will be held to higher standards, etc?
I'm sure you've thought of these things; maybe even tried to put them in the back of your mind and just enjoy the first "simple" years without all this hoopla and sociocultural issues.
But even the first years have such impressionable periods and lessons to be learned in regards to the child's relationship to others, risk v. reward, work ethic, and even vital developmental skills that can't be achieved from a glass bubble or a Dora the Explorer interactive DVD set (i don't even know if such a thing exists yet, but it will).
At any rate, they're your kids; so the bachelors philosophy may not carry as much weight as he would like, but I thought it would be fun food-4-thought.
On a side note, Albertson's was having a sale on Pomegranate Blueberry Juice (next to the simply orange and other beverages) and it is exquisitely yummy.
allowing for a lot of direct dialogue and interaction with the audience (that's you, btw). And seeing that both you Aubry and Susan & Justin and Jessica both have lovely young daughters of your own. I wanted to see what your reaction was to the article and video above.How willing and able do you think you could be at allowing your children to engage in potentially dangerous situations without supervision?
As this trend of hyper-protectivity (not a real word) continues and your children's peers are winy little brats who always get what they want and are rewarded for mediocrity, what will you do to educated them on how they will be held to higher standards, etc?
I'm sure you've thought of these things; maybe even tried to put them in the back of your mind and just enjoy the first "simple" years without all this hoopla and sociocultural issues.
But even the first years have such impressionable periods and lessons to be learned in regards to the child's relationship to others, risk v. reward, work ethic, and even vital developmental skills that can't be achieved from a glass bubble or a Dora the Explorer interactive DVD set (i don't even know if such a thing exists yet, but it will).
At any rate, they're your kids; so the bachelors philosophy may not carry as much weight as he would like, but I thought it would be fun food-4-thought.
On a side note, Albertson's was having a sale on Pomegranate Blueberry Juice (next to the simply orange and other beverages) and it is exquisitely yummy.
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