Is there a parenting technique or trend that you strongly disagree with parents using? You’ve got company. After polling the internet, here are the top-voted trends that older generations don’t like.
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1. Disciplining Your Children for the World to See
“Recording your children when you punish them. That’s private- not for the public. Anything posted on the internet lasts forever. And children are cruel. Wait until someone at school sees it. Then, they will carry that with them their entire lives,” suggested one.
Another agreed, “The worst is the videos that go viral of parents making their kids hold signs about being a liar or a thief. And the ones where they cut their crying child’s hair. Horrific.”
2. PUSHING Your Kid into Sports
One parent shared, “I had a friend growing up who every day his dad would make him get up an hour early before school (so like 6:00 AM) to go and shoot several baskets (I think 50 or 100, can’t remember) before school and then again after school before he could go out and play.”
3. Being Overprotective of Your Little One
“Yeah, as a kid with parents that were helicopters, it messes you up,” one confessed. “It sucks. It has such long-lasting effects. I have extreme social anxiety and depression. I struggle with paranoia.”
“I hate that my parents didn’t let me learn anything independently and bond with the people around me. So now I’m 21 and struggling.”
4. Oversharing About Your Kids on Social Media
“Oversharing stuff about your kids on social media,” replied another. “A picture of little Johnny’s poop in the potty is not cute; it’s disgusting. You wouldn’t post a picture of your feces in the toilet. It doesn’t make any difference coming from a two-year-old toddler.”
5. Parents Who Refuse to Say No
One person explained, “Not saying NO to your children. I don’t understand the logic. Setting behavioral boundaries and maintaining those boundaries through black-and-white logic makes perfect sense to me.”
“My boyfriend’s ten-year-old niece never gets told no,” another admitted. “Both her parents and grandparents let her do whatever she wants and then act shocked when she misbehaves.”
“But if they say no, that will crush her creative spirit. I’m terrified for what that girl will be like when she gets older. She’s already immensely entitled, and it will only get worse from here.”
6. Giving Your Children the Silent Treatment
“Parents who give their children the silent treatment. Going hours, days, or longer without speaking makes the children feel guilty, ashamed, and confused about the real problem instead of dealing with it openly and forthrightly,” suggested one.
“My parents sometimes did this. As an adult, I sometimes find it hard to communicate my feelings and bottle things in,” confessed another. I never had open communication growing up. It was either silent treatment or yelling. No conversation where I got to say my piece.”
7. No Use of Adjectives
“As someone pursuing a career in Speech-Language Pathology: that is not okay. Children learn by listening to the people around them and eventually assimilating the words they hear to the object or idea,” shared one.
“If you don’t use language around your child, they won’t develop that language. So the poor thing will end up with delayed speech patterns.”
8. Sharing Personal Family Moments with Extended Family
“I’m 25, and my mother still does this,” alerted one. “I hesitated to tell her I had been pregnant for five months because I knew what was coming. Then, when I told her, I got congratulatory messages from people I’d never spoken to just because she told them.”
“When I send her some stupid photo of whatever, she shares it on her Facebook. And somehow, she still doesn’t understand why I don’t tell her anything or text her.”
9. Friend First, Parent Second
“Parents who prioritize being a friend instead of a parent. They are then shocked when their kid doesn’t listen to them,” answered one.
“Oh, my God! This! My mother-in-law refuses to say no. Although her kids are adults, she still lets them walk all over her. Then she vents to her only responsible daughter (my wife), which stresses her out and makes it MY problem. The lady is nice, but this annoys me,” confirmed another.
10. I’m Right, You are Wrong
“I’m the parent, so I’m right. I do not in any way mean to coddle your kids. I am all for setting well-defined and well-explained boundaries. Kids should always be sure about why they are being punished, and the punishment needs to be tailored to each kid to suit their age.”
“It’s all about ensuring your kid understands the rules and talking it out if they disagree with something. Respecting and listening to your kid is a good way to get respect and understanding back,” a final user commented.
We hope you enjoyed this Reddit thread of parenting trends that people strongly disagree with doing. This article is inspired by the internet and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Because Mom Says.