Brilliant discussion so far. To stray a bit off topic, and because I have not seen this mentioned yet, but does anyone think parenting is partially to blame for some of the issues that youngsters face today? Perhaps I have a skewed view of the subject as I am not a parent, but I've noticed some interesting trends with modern parenting that differ greatly with my own childhood experiences (or perhaps I just suffer from poor memory ).
- Children, especially girls, are treated like "princesses" and overexposed to Disney fairy tale propaganda. Material things seem to dominate Birthdays and Christmases rather than family bonding time.
- There is a general lack of discipline because parents either fear being labeled an abuser, and/or they do not want their children to experience any pain.
- Kids are too busy being shuttled from from activity to activity (soccer, piano, ballet, karate, etc.) rather than being forced to focus on studies. Why does ADHD seem so rampant?
- Children are kept indoors to watch TV or play computer games for entertainment rather than be allowed to play outside and explore their world, because parents fear "stranger danger".
- Lack of any kind of financial education because the parents themselves have no clue. Unfortunately, schools do not offer it in their curriculum either.
- Parents place far more emphasis on choice of schools than parental involvement in the children's education. It's all about being in a good school district nowadays, which leads to higher housing costs, and parents have to work more to pay for it so they have less time to spend with their kids.
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