Socially Acceptable Parenting Advice in 2021 Would Have Horrified People Just a Few Years Ago by Joanna Miller for The Organic Prepper
Parenting has never been easy, and this past year has ushered in all kinds of new challenges for those raising children. New guidelines cover just about every aspect of society, from going to a restaurant to taking care of your kids. It’s worth comparing time-tested parenting techniques with today’s modern parenting.
What was once deemed not acceptable is now the preferred method of modern parenting. And the kind of things we readers did as kids would be like some kind of unimaginable science fiction if such options were presented to children today.
Screen time used to be limited but now it’s all-consuming.
Up until this past year, every pediatrician and child-rearing book recommended limiting screen time to no more than two hours a day for young children. Pediatricians advised using careful observation and planning around screen time for older children. We widely understood it’s easy for screen time to push more worthwhile activities such as playing outside, socializing, interacting with family members, and reading out of the schedule. There has been extensive research on this.
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This article is not about passing judgment on parents using screens to distract children. I turned on movies plenty of times when my children were small if I needed to get something done. However, I always understood it was less than ideal, and so did every other parent I knew. Screen usage correlates with eye problems, sleep problems, and posture problems. Most parents knew this instinctively and tried to get kids otherwise engaged whenever possible.
Suddenly, it is not only okay but preferable to keep children in front of screens for ten or twelve hours a day. Kids now do both their school and their socializing online. I guess it’s better to deal with the known evils of screen usage, lack of exercise, and minimal social interaction, than to risk exposure to an illness for which children under 19 have a survival rate of 99.997%?
All of a sudden, homeschooling is favored
I wouldn’t say attitudes have changed society-wide. Still, I have noticed an extreme shift in the attitude toward homeschooling.
When I was growing up, it seemed homeschooling led to socially dysfunctional children. I knew homeschooled kids, but I thought they were weird, and so did my parents. Time makes fools of us all. My attitude toward homeschooling changed when my child struggled in our school district.
Even after homeschooling for nearly a decade, I still had people ask how my children could socialize and function in the “real world.” I just assumed I would spend the rest of my time as a homeschooling parent explaining myself to people.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve learned to love homeschooling. It was my personal choice, which every parent deserves. I had time to research before pulling my child from public school. And, I had a spouse who was (somewhat) willing to pay me to homeschool. Homeschooling has its advantages, but a functional public school system has its benefits too. Every parent deserves honest information:
