Anyone read The Observer, 'Guru's advice to parents: relax, have fun'

[JoniRules]

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/may/15/parenting-less-fuss-more-fun

Did anyone read this? What did you think? I really agreed with him, as this is what I broadly think anyway. Why force your child into all these after school activites if they don't enjoy them?
I think we can all be a bit uptight these days about parenting. Myself included; like I get quite uptight about TV watching and healthy food eating, when maybe I could relax a bit about it.
I thought it was a breath of fresh air actually after the likes of 'tiger mom' epidemic

Hm, think it sounds a bit fluffy to me. Of course parenting affects children, even if genes are a huge part of it too. You act as your child's role model, they take their lead from you. You teach them how to stick at things; how to be kind and consider others; how to think through problems.... I mean, the list is endless. And that's not even considering diet/sleep etc.

I'm sure everyone knows a family where they consider the parenting to be a problem. The most troubled child I know had some of the worst parenting (IMO:)) . Poor discipline, watching violent films when he was three years old, coke and junk food from 18 months, no sleep routine. No wonder he's a nightmare.

I know that's an extreme, and we put a stupid amount of pressure on ourselves but, tbh, if you know something is best for your child, then I think you have a duty to do it. I don't mean push them into something they hate, but to really KNOW your child, and do what is the right thing for them.

This is the only parenting guru any parent should take notice of.

I think freakenomics makes a similar argument about nature vs nurture. Levitt says that really bad parenting does damage children but parenting within a normal range does not affect children. He says that success at school is determined by who a child's parents are - not what they do. He lists the factors that make a difference to children and they are all things about who the parents are (their age, their education, their socioeconomic status, that they own books). He says it doesn't matter whether the child is spanked, whether the parents take them to museums, whether the child watches tv or whether the parents read to the child. So reading to your child won't make a difference to their academic success but a parent who likes and owns books is likely to have a child who likes books and will do well at reading.

Stephen Levitt and Bryan Caplan are both economists, not childcare experts. Using statistics to predict outcomes of childrearing techniques is bonkers.