Page 75 - April Issue
P. 75

the new family

   How much is too much
       when it comes to

    sheltering your kids?

Every child needs protection….but many parents let their own insecurities
  take this element of parenting to the extreme.The mere notion that a
    child must be shielded from all pain is neither practical nor realistic.

Overdoing it                      Synergy Integrated Medical        League, piano lessons and Story     mother, baby & child April 2011
                                  Centre, parents might shelter     Hour. Children never get to play
As infants, parents feel          their kids out of worry and       freely with other children - there
responsible to protect their      fear for their safety. “Parents   is always adult supervision. This
babies from the ‘big bad world’,  might be afraid of negative       means they don’t learn to be
but as those babies grow into     consequences if too much          “streetwise” by exploring and
young children, then teens        freedom is given to a child,”     roaming their neighbourhoods.
and adults, they have to make     she explains as well as cultural  Supervised play also has the
their own way into the world      components also can have an       effect of cushioning children
and cannot be protected all       impact on how much parents        against the natural and
their lives. Once upon a time     shelter their children.           sometimes nasty give-and-take
kids played outside, walked                                         between peers - a process
to school and learned on their    The Effects                       that provides valuable life
own. A skinned knee was                                             lessons. Children need to learn
simply bandaged up; so why        There are no more pick-up         how to negotiate their own
the extreme overprotection?       baseball games or playing         disagreements and choose
According to Alaa AbuAli,         dolls under big trees. Childhood  their natural leaders. Studies,
Counselling Psychologist in       is all about Scouts, Little

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