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Original poster

Increasingly concerned at censorious PC parenting becoming the norm

142 replies

Twiglett · 30/09/2006 09:58

yes we all want to protect our children and make sure they're well rounded individuals

but where does our idea of what is right stop and our child's right to discover for themselves begin

obvioulsy there are certain boundaries of behaviour

but eg should a child be stopped from exploring physical play methods (a la cowboys and indians) because it doesn't fit with our ideal of a non-violent society

should a child not be allowed a Barbie because we feel it is a bad stereotype

what do you think?

OP posts:
2shoes · 30/09/2006 11:07

i think we worry too much
db played with guns did cowboys and idians but is a respectable married man now.
I never had a barbie but played with friends didn't make me think women should look like that.
ds has had toy guns and sadly bb guns(broken in a week )
dd has had barbies but didn't like them(presents)
won't have anything to do with bratz in the house because they use the word "spaz"
am not going to be told by a pompus fat git like JO what to do.
just relax.............

PinkTulips · 30/09/2006 11:10

you know whats wierd, i never even noticed the barbie had too big boobs and a too narrow waist til there was uproar about i in the 90's, i loved them, i played with them everyday, but it never even dawned on me how she looked or how accurate a depiction of a woman that might be.

when i made mud cakes in the garden i knew they weren't real, that i couldn't eat them. but i could pretend they were whatever i wanted them to be. it's called imagination, none of my toys, except for the odd plastic animal bought at the zoo, looked exactly the way it would if it were real. how many pink rabbits have you seen lately? well the stuffed one infront of me is pink, does that make it a bad toy, does iot teach my dd that rabbits are pink? NO!

as for allowing kids to just be, you only have to see the pre-pubecant girls walking around in bely tops and miniskirts too see they're being force to grow up too soon, i don't know why but parents seem determined to make mini adults out of them as soon as possible rather than letting them just play

tortoiseshell · 30/09/2006 11:15

pmsl at that article! It's so true. I got dagger looks when I gave ds1 some breadsticks after gymnastics, and they all very loudly said 'Come on, here's some LOVELY dried pineapple and papaya pieces....'.

southeastastra · 30/09/2006 11:15

do they really use that word 2shoes?

2shoes · 30/09/2006 11:16

yes americans use it

Pruni · 30/09/2006 11:20

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edam · 30/09/2006 11:20

Nothing wrong with feeding your children good food, it's being darn judgemental about people who appear to make different choices. See the 'women bringing chips to school in Rotherham' thread. When the subject of healthy eating comes up, there are often posts by people who see parents who don't live up to their own high standards as somehow morally deficient. That's censorious.

I LOL at myself about Barbie, Hula. My mother would never allow me to have one because she was 'common' and I seem to have internalised this judgement.

southeastastra · 30/09/2006 11:24

some parents are too concerned and don't realise that they just need to let children 'play' with whatever they want to. it's another area where professionals feel the need to examine and pick holes in. though if i had girls i would definately resist buying those awful bratz things. yukky and about as pc as paris hilton

Pruni · 30/09/2006 11:26

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WideWebWitch · 30/09/2006 11:27

yes, I judge someone who feeds a one year old Coca Cola.

Pruni · 30/09/2006 11:29

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WideWebWitch · 30/09/2006 11:29

I can't stop them and wouldn't try to but I do judge them.

btw, I don't see people with major issues using food threads to deal with them, so either I missed something or I'm considered one of them.

mumsnet's bound to have people with wildly differing views, it would be boring otherwise.

rustybear · 30/09/2006 11:30

Just had DD's comments on the Barbie thing, based on observation of her contemporaries:
If you play exclusively with Barbies you turn into a clothes obsessed tart. If you play exclusively with My Little Pony you'll die a sad virgin. If you play with both (like DD) you''ll be OK. But it might be you play with barbies because you're like that anyway (nature v nurture)
Can't you just tell she's just started A level psychology!

emmatom · 30/09/2006 11:30

Someone sent me this which puts a lot of things in perspective:

"TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 50S, 60S,70S AND EARLY 80S!!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Our cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on bottles and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with 4 friends, from one bottle, and noone actually died from this.

We ate cup cakes, white bread and real butter and drand soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because ....

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights were on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were OK.

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and balls.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

This generation has produced some of the best risk takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, tell it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were!"

Pruni · 30/09/2006 11:32

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oops · 30/09/2006 11:34

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Carmenere · 30/09/2006 11:38

Oops - I strongly believe that it is lack of information and time that makes parents feed their children convenience foods. Even crap parents are doing their best, people generally don't harm their children on purpose.

FrannyandZooey · 30/09/2006 11:39

I would like my child to be left to be a child without being marketed to and pressured to consume all the crap food and drink, shitty character toys and tv stuff that seems to be synonymous with childhood these days. None of these things are anything to do with the experience of childhood - they are to do with people making money by selling things to my child.

oops · 30/09/2006 11:39

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oops · 30/09/2006 11:40

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flashingnose · 30/09/2006 11:41

Completely agree F&Z. And when did all the blue vs pink stuff start??

oops · 30/09/2006 11:42

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oops · 30/09/2006 11:50

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edam · 30/09/2006 12:14

It's funny how we are all focused on food as an issue and not, for example, global warming. Which is the bigger threat to our children? Maybe food is more immediate and more something we can/should control ourselves. But then we can all use low-energy lightbulbs and turn appliances off when we are not using them.

I'm not sure how many children are developing Type 2 diabetes. It's shocking if anyone has developed it as a result of diet - but the first example that caused a media storm was actually not to do with obesity but to do with a genetic disorder. The parents were very distressed by the misuse of her case by the Commons health select committee, which was then widely reported.

Enid · 30/09/2006 12:20

I had a cuddly rabbit as a child

sadly I can now only have relastionships with men who look like rabbits