santa cruz wharf

30 August 2007

Helicopter Parent of the Echo Generation.

Last night, I innocently went over to relax on Vinnie’s Couch…hoping to catch some tunes and glean some knowledge of his tuneage. Instead I sat straight up and entered the fray.

Bond’s Big Leather Couch
“Where Are We Going”

A couple days ago on Dr Blogstein’s Radio Happy Hour a multi-faceted debate began. It spilled over onto the blog sites of the parties involved and subsequently to the comments of those postings.
(sykes and plaisted)


ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more
I’d like to be so bold as to issue a Comment Challenge to a few fellow bloggers whose opinion I am curious of. (this is sorta like a Meme...can I get a ruling from the Queen?) If you are so inclined…please surf over to Bond's Couch and comment on the subject.

Linda ~ Are We There Yet?

Hammer ~ When Your Only Tool is A Hammer

Christopher ~ Death By Children

Kat ~ My Single Mom Life


Should we bubblewrap our kids protecting them ever feeling pain, loss or suffering?

Should we insist on all things being equal…eliminating competition and forbidding recognition of individual or team achievement?

Should we encourage our kids to take advantage of their attributes, skills, and knowledge to strive to be the best they can be…and be ranked higher than their peers?

Should we provide classes, lessons, tutors and coaches to give them the edge…to a point where they have no real free time to actually be a kid?

What do YOU think?

10 comments:

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

Thank you Katherine... it is nice to agree with you (at least on most of the points) after our opposing views on Mr. Bonds and Mr. Vick!
And your challenge is truly appreciated.

You might have noticed, we have decide to run this through Friday as so many people have not had the time to listen to the broadcast because they are at work.

I get passionate on music as you know...and sports, but even more so on our future...our legacy...our children

Mimi Lenox said...

You bet you can get a ruling! Great idea to issue this challenge. I will mention it on my blog as well.... (as soon as I finish deleting all the idiotic evil spam that mysteriously appeared in the comment sections of both my blogs today)

I love this idea and it has started a great debate. Stimulating conversation in the air. Thank you, Katherine!

Kat said...

ally sure what you're asking me. Your comment appeared full of typos and misprints because it was copied and pasted in, as though you had typed up this particular comment, and then copied it, so you could paste it on multiple blogs.
Which you did on mine.
I just checked these other blogs and funny, it's the exact same comment you left me.

If you'd like me to answer your questions, please email me or type me a new comment.
I can't read what you posted, and it includes an extra url, which I don't allow.

katherine. said...

Bond: I look forward to all the responses.

Mimi: I do so love stimulation. smile.

kat: there is a conversation about raising kids on Bond's website. I have read your blog and enjoyed what you wrtie.

My comment to you (and the other three) were indeed identical...as I was asking you ALL to comment on the subject. I double checked the comment and the only typo appears to be "bubblewrap" which I made one word instead of the conventional "bubble wrap".

The other "code" which may look like gibberish is how a link back to my blog is posted in the comment section.

From your comment I see you don't allow additional URLs...however you found your way back regardless.

If you'd like to comment on the debate at Bond's site "Big Leather Couch" that'd be cool...you can follow the link on my post...if not...still cool.

Marilyn said...

Wow... this is an interesting debate and one I keep falling into (with the whole homeschool thing). I'll head over and take a look.

The Curmudgeon said...

I've commented on bond's site.

But I could spend weeks -- months -- on this subject which is also near and dear to my heart.

Failure is part of life. It's not the happiest part -- but it's a part.

I'm going to quote from two movies:

Darby O'Gill -- expounding in the pub about his third wish for the leprechaun -- one of his comrades suggests he wish for happiness.

"No," says Darby, "me father told me there only one person who was truly happy all the time. And that was the Village Idiot."

And the other -- from the Incredibles -- the evil Syndrome is talking about selling his technology that makes him 'super':
"And when everyone is super, no one will be."

You can't learn to succeed until you've failed.

Take it from a failure!

Lucy Dee said...

Should we bubblewrap our kids protecting them ever feeling pain, loss or suffering?

No. Pain is a part of life. Without pain we would not know what joy is. And if you let them grow having never experienced it (which is impossible), they will be devastated and won't be able to recover when it happens out in the real world.

Learning how to pick yourself up from the ashes is the lesson that needs to be learned.

Should we insist on all things being equal…eliminating competition and forbidding recognition of individual or team achievement?

See above. No. We have to learn our specific skills. We aren't going to end up as Renaissance men and women. We need to fail in order to help us eliminate what is NOT benefiting our lives.

Should we encourage our kids to take advantage of their attributes, skills, and knowledge to strive to be the best they can be…and be ranked higher than their peers?

Yeah, why not? This the opposite side of the above question. They probably won't be good at everything, but let them excel at what they are good at. Why hold them back?

Should we provide classes, lessons, tutors and coaches to give them the edge…to a point where they have no real free time to actually be a kid?

I would encourage my kids to do activities that they can capitalize on later in their lives--so they can be independent. I'm sure Tiger Woods and Venus and Serena Williams didn't have much of a childhood (well, not a normal one at least). And I don't think they're looking back, thinking, "Geez, I wish I had more of a childhood."

Schmoop said...

Kids should know the feeling of pain, loss,, and the sting of not making the team. If we sanitize life too much, the pain will be much worse later.

Barb said...

I guess I'll go see what's going on..

NotClauswitz said...

Hell no, give them gasoline and matches! The pain will come one way or the other, from shyness or from over exuberance, from the deep end of the pool, or from Summer Camp - just don't lose a finger in shop-class, it's very messy. Crying helps develop lung-power - but what do I know, starting late I don't have any kids...