Need help for school debate

[Starmummy]

Firstly sorry if this is the wrong place I couldnt think where to post.

Ok tomorrow! Yikes! We have a parent v 6th form debate. Personally I think the parents have been set up. The topic is Do you think parents are too controlling of their children? Needless to say the parents have the Yes side of the debate.

Any ideas please, all welcome. TIA.

See if you can dig up any information on helicopter parenting and hot housing to use as examples and hope that they don't pull you up on the fact that these cases (especially hot-housing) are few and far between.

Maybe argue that when you were children people cared less about health and safety and paedophiles and the like. The media has hyped all these things up, so now giving your children the free rein the previous generations may have enjoyed is no longer seen as appropriate parenting. E.g. In the summer holidays I would leave the house early morning and spend all day wandering the village, until the evening. I doubt many parents of primary school children would let their children do this now, and other parents may even see it as being neglectful.

I could be way off the mark though. I don't envy you. Take a hipflask full of whiskey and sip it surreptitiously all evening.

Thanks MrsC. Like I say I do think we have been stiched up good and proper ;-)

Anymore ideas welcome

Along the lines of Mrs C, there's a graphic here showing the decrease in how far successive generations of a single family have been allowed to roam in childhood.

There's an article attached to it as well.

You have t he yes parents ARE too controlling side?

Try to think about both sides so you can rebut in your opening speech/shoot down in flames before they open their mouths. And prepare for questions!

Good luck

frakkinaround,

Sorry didnt make myself clear , yes we have the parents are too controlling ;-) good idea to make sure of rebuttal and anticipate the questions.

Thanks belfastbloke for the article looks good. I like the idea of producing facts and figures.

wish us luck.

What tIme is the debate? Will be thinking of you.

Interesting to tackle what too controing means. IMO the stuff quoted is fodder for the other side when it comes to media hype.

Too controlling would mean stifling children's development whether appropriate or not, such as the Dutch girl who wants to sail around the world (although that was the state that stopped), hot housing, lots of extra curricular activities, not allowed children downtime but insisting they're productive, curfews, parental controls on computers banning every site except cbeebies etc

Then have a good argument for why things used to be/should be different.