Ryan Bridge: We've taken parenting to a level beyond useful

I'm part of the generation that grew up pre-cell phones. 

Gifts were usually clothing you needed. Toys were chatter rings, marbles, maybe a skate board. 

There was no 'picky eating', as we've heard about this week. If you didn't finish what was on your plate at dinner, you didn't get a treat afterwards. 

Sweat treats were fruit. Or Raro sachets (sugar rush) if you managed to sneak one out the pantry.

There were no snacks - if you were hungry before dinner, mum would tell you to drink a glass of water. 

School was basics. Maths, reading, writing. A bit of everything else. 

What we're learning, as a society, is that we've collectively taken our eye off the ball. We've taken parenting to a level beyond usefulness. 

Do we need cheap imported asbestos sand to engage toddlers? 

Do we need a thousand fun school subjects in place of decent time on basic ones?

Do we need to tip-toe around kids not eating their veggies, as was suggested yesterday, for fear our kids may develop some eating disorder? 

Do they all need cell phones that helicopter parents message constantly while their kid should learning in school? 

No, we don't. We didn't then and we don't now. 

The results speak for themselves. 

The Aussies are banning social media. 

Cell phone bans in schools are working.

According to results out yesterday, students forced to do an hour of good old fashioned maths a day made a full year's progress in just 12 weeks. 

Kids are fatter than they've ever been before, so the meal time passive parenting thing clearly isn't working. 

The goods news, it's not too late to turn this around. But frankly, parents and teachers are the ones who need to grow up and show leadership here, not the kids. 

And the best news of all is that most of this stuff is easier and cheaper. We've set expectations too high, boundaries too low, and our kids are paying the price. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh look, I'm not that old, but I'm part of
a generation that grew up pre cell phones. Grew up
at a time where presents were usually clothing that you needed.
Toys were chatterings, marbles, maybe a skateboard if you were
really lucky. There was no picky eating. Did you hear
about this last week? If you didn't finish what was
on your plate at dinner, you didn't get a treat afterwards,

(00:21):
and treats were usually fruit or a RaRo sachet if
you managed to sneak one out of the pantry. There
were no snacks. If you were hungry before dinner, Mum
would say, drink a glass of water. Goodness, mate. School
was basic. It was math, reading, writing, a bit of
everything else. What we're learning as a society is that
where collectively we have taken our eye off the ball,

(00:44):
we've taken parenting to a level beyond usefulness. Do we
need cheap, imported asbestos sand to engage toddlers, No we don't.
Do we need one thousand fun school subjects in place
of decent time on basic ones, No we don't. Do
we need to tiptoe around kids not eating their veggies,

(01:04):
as was suggested, yesterday for fear that they may develop
some kind of eating disorder. No we don't do they
all need cell phones that helicopter parents message constantly while
their kids should be learning at school. No we don't.
We didn't then and we don't now. And the results
speak for themselves. The Aussies abandoning social media cell phone
bands in schools here are working. According to those results, yesterday,

(01:28):
students forced to do an hour of good old fashioned
maths a day made a full year's progress in just
twelve weeks. Kids are fatter than ever because of what
we're feeding them, so the meal time passive parenting thing
clearly ain't working. The good news is that it's not
too late to turn all this around. Frankly, parents and

(01:48):
teachers are the ones who need to grow up and
show leadership here, not the kids. The kids will follow
the lead. And the best news of all is that
most of this stuff is easier and cheaper. We've set
expectations too high, boundaries too low, and our kids are
paying the price. For more from Early edition with Ryan Bridge.

(02:11):
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