candis debate
by herself. It’s hard when you start letting your children do things without you, but it’s important to give them some independence when they’re ready, otherwise they’ll grow up unprepared for the real world.” Sharon: “There will always be examples of parents who overprotect their children and those who don’t. I think those who are overprotective act like that for a reason – perhaps they have come from an abusive home themselves or maybe they live in an area with higher crime rates and therefore their children are more at risk.”
Are some parents doing the opposite and not giving their children enough guidance? Susan: “Yes. I know someone who thinks her son shouldn’t be disciplined because he
must find his own way, but without
READER PROFILES:
SUSAN KINNEAR, 39 Believes children are growing up ill prepared for the real world. A senior university lecturer from Chester, Susan is married with three children.
SHARON MCCORMICK, 39 A counsellor from Burntwood, Sharon is married with 8- year-old twins. She doesn’t think very protective parenting has negative effects.
any guidance he just goes and does whatever he wants. In fact he’s become quite a nasty bully who picks on other children in his school, but who will tell him that’s wrong?” Pam: “I think there are some parents who are incapable of giving any guidance to their own children because they don’t understand what doing that means.” Sharon: “But that doesn’t always mean their children will end up as unruly adults. I have friends who were raised with little structure in their lives and they have ended up being very successful and happy adults because they had the freedom to develop themselves as children. But on the other hand, if someone’s not being guided it can become a
PAM TAYLOR, 53 Has two children and grandchildren. A writer, she lives in St Helens with her husband. She says the Government is making parents overcautious.
not allowed to sleep over at a friend’s house*
15 and under are children aged quarter of One
breeding ground for disaster, so I think it can work both ways.” Why do you think parenting styles have changed from when you grew up? Pam: “I think it’s partly because the world has changed and partly because we’re more informed of potential dangers through the media. When I was growing up there were the ‘latchkey
kids’ and children
played out all day without their parents
worrying because we rarely
heard about bad things happening. Now we’re constantly reading about kids getting involved in drugs and gangs, or being groomed on the internet. There are also more cars on the roads, so the world seems full of danger. But you can’t keep
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