Raising children is a practice that has changed consistently over time, as a topic close to many people’s hearts, there are a lot of conflicting opinions. There’s a generational divide when it comes to many aspects of culture, but especially when it comes to parenting. Modern parenting tactics, more often than not, baffle older generations, as they replace traditional techniques and challenge perceptions of what’s best for our kids. From organic living to unconventional names, here are 19 modern parenting trends that continuously puzzle older people.
No Playing Outside
Gone are the “free range” parenting days of letting your children play outside until the sun went down. Nowadays, it’s assumed that outdoor public spaces aren’t as safe as they were, with many parents preferring their kids to play indoors. There’s also more focus on screen time in current parenting trends, causing children to spend more time indoors.
Limiting Discipline
Old-fashioned forms of discipline such as time-outs are rarely featured in the modern-day parent’s toolkit. General discipline seems to be limited these days, amid studies claiming that telling off your child increases their risk of developing mental health issues. With that being said, children need to be taught accountability, and many older people are baffled when young parents refuse to use discipline.
Screen Time
In the digital age, screen time is almost inescapable for children, but many parents encourage its use. In many US households, it’s the norm for kids to have their own iPads, tablets, and phones, and these gadgets help keep them entertained while parents work from home. But older people worry about the health implications of too much screen time.
Social Media Usage
Love or hate it, social media is a part of the digital world that’s here to stay, and it’s attracting more younger people by the day. Many modern parents see social media platforms as a way for older children to socialize, but this can raise safety and privacy concerns.
No Firm Bedtimes
Part of the recent intuitive parenting trend is letting your child make decisions for themselves. For some parents, this means letting kids choose their own bedtime, whether this is early or late. This baffles many baby boomers, who brought up their kids to have sleep schedules for their well-being.
Organic Living
Older people often associate organic foods and clothing with unnecessary expenses, even if parents buy them with the best intentions. Rather than spending money unnecessarily on organic labels, many modern parents have environmental concerns in mind and want to give their kids more nutrient-rich foods.
Talking About Feelings
Traditional parenting could mean rules such as “only speak when you’re spoken to” were enforced, encouraging children not to talk about their feelings. These days, there’s a lot more focus on mental health and openness, meaning parents encourage children to talk about their feelings.
Constant Check-Ins
Modern technology means parents nowadays can monitor everything their child is doing, from baby monitors to mobile tracking apps. Gone are the days of leaving kids to figure it out for themselves and earn autonomy.
Unconventional Names
Traditional names have been replaced with anything people consider unique, with parents more concerned about choosing gender-neutral names or something different from their friends. Baby boomers struggle to comprehend naming children after fruits, vegetables, or weather patterns.
Inchstones
Parents have celebrated their children’s milestones for millennia, especially larger achievements such as learning to talk or walk. Nowadays, parents celebrate inchstones, which are minuscule steps in their child’s development, such as half birthdays or losing a tooth. This concept seems unnecessary to many older people.
Sharing Children Online
Millennials and Gen Z are becoming increasingly obsessed with social media, and this often carries over to their parenting strategy. It’s becoming woefully commonplace for parents to share their children’s faces on socials, raising privacy concerns among those who didn’t grow up posting their lives online.
Single-Parenting by Choice
Single-parent households are becoming commonplace in the US today. Thanks to shifting perspectives and more autonomy given to women, many mothers are choosing to raise their kids singlehandedly. This is often difficult for older people to grasp, as they were raised on the concept of the nuclear family.
Pressure to Study
Going to college or university is far more accessible now than it was in the previous century, and getting a degree is seen as a necessity by many parents. Pressuring kids to study hard and forego leisure time in their teen years is far removed from the “latch-key” parenting of the 1970s.
Too Many Labels
Millennial parents are more likely to put a label on everything, including their style of parenting. They feel they need to decide whether they will be mindful parents, eco-friendly parents, gentle parents, and so on. To the older generation, this is a classic example of overthinking.
Declining Vaccinations
Vaccination skepticism has been increasing since the pandemic, and many new parents refuse to vaccinate their children over health fears. But to older people who grew up without the option of vaccinations, the suspicions harbored by modern parents seem ludicrous.
TV Time
Every parent looks for a toy to distract their child with to prevent mischief, which leads many people to switch on the TV for convenience. While some Baby Boomers agree that technology has made parenting easier, they draw the line at children being glued to the TV for hours. Older people often wonder what happened to playing outside in nature, reading story books, or playing with toys that don’t involve staring at a screen.
Swapping Physical Books For E-Reading
Thanks to digitization, bedtime stories look very different now compared to the paperback collections of the “good old days”. While it’s more convenient to store children’s books on a Kindle or e-reader, many older people think it loses the charm of reading.
Letting Them Make Too Many Decisions
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