Skipper, we didn't even have a tv when my child was little, and it has since been severely limited in the sense of violence of any kind, including cartoon violence. I stayed home for the most part until my child was in school, and for the short time that I did work, my husband switched his hours around so that one parent was always with her except for a few hours a day of a parent cooperative nursery school, and I started her a year late in elementary school because I think small children need a lot more sand play and social interaction and large muscle movement than they need any kind of academics (I don't think children should learn to read until they are seven).
However, I have a minor in child development, and have always been interested in being a very good parent. I can tell you that this is not the norm in American society, as I am sure anyone could observe by entering any home, school, park or shopping center and seeing that most parents use the tv as a babysitter, are so busy simply trying to survive that they do not pay nearly enough attention to their children, and in many ways--great and small--are simply not very nuturing, or actually hit and verbally abuse their children in public.
The "socialistic" societies of Europe give parents a lot more support, with longer (paid) leaves from work when their children are born, so the babies bond with their parents, a wonderful preventative against bad parenting, to state-sponsored high quality preschools which are mandatory from age three (France in particular), and where parents also have to participate and be educated, and which brings to the attention of therapists children and families which are maladjusted, so that treatment can begin. Early intervention is highly effective.
These societies realize that the health of individual families represents the entire future of their societies. America, on the other hand, does not prioritize children, instead for the most part seeing them as little consumers and as financial burdens. Our public schools are getting worse and worse, as taxpayers choose to spend less and less on them, and as mothers are forced to work because of economic realities, and many dads have two jobs. Oh, I forgot the easy availability of guns, so disturbed children acting out can blow away their friends or classmates, or themselves, readily (when they are not learning to play football).
The libertarian philosophy seems to be at direct odds with enhanced public health and educational programs, so children and families in America would have better chances at health. Unfortunately, there are only a few naturally rational beings hanging out here, and the rest require some assistance to be that way. To think that Americans at large will adopt avant garde, very nurturing childrearing practices by osmosis is just unrealistic. Unfortunately, the resulting social pathologies then threaten the safety of the everyone. |
