On Second Thought: Overprotective parents must give children the freedom to grow
Free advice: overprotective parents are smothering their children's development
I am no expert on parenting. In fact, I am not even a parent. But parents are in general so desperate for parenting tips that the brains of even people like me are sometimes picked. The best advice I have given to eternally curious mothers and fathers in search of the secret to parenting success is they need to let their children take a little risk.
With a sparkle of excitement in my eyes, I would declare to them: "The best way to ensure your children grow up to be losers is to give them all the protection they don't need."
The entrepreneurial spirit is born from stepping out of one's comfort zone. Richard Branson, for example, couldn't walk away from a challenge, whether it was a bet that had him serving drinks in a skirt or a chance that led to a transformation of the airline industry.
As Abel Morales, the entrepreneur hero in the movie , says: "When it feels scary to jump, that's exactly when you jump. Otherwise you will end up staying in the same place your whole life."
The United States has long been a cradle of innovation. It has given the world many of its greatest entrepreneurs, from Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford to Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
Yet, as the January issue of magazine points out, the rate of start-up formation in the US has slowed markedly since 1985, and older companies now increasingly dominate the technology field. This trend does not bode well for innovation, for the best breakthroughs tend to come not from established companies but entrepreneurs with little to lose.
Blame it on the way children are raised today. Despite the popularity of such books as , middle-class parents have taken protective parenting to a new level, with the government playing the role of super nanny. A recent study by the University of California, Los Angeles, found that American children spend as much as 90 per cent of their after-school hours at home, mostly watching television or playing video games. And when they do get physically active, they are under the constant supervision of adults.
What results is a significant narrowing of the child's world. Parents are so obsessive about putting their children out of harm's way that they often forget they will not be around forever to protect their boys and girls from life's challenges. Giving them more control over their lives is the most effective way to develop not only their intellectual capabilities to navigate the world, but also their confidence in their own abilities.
So, a reminder for parents: whatever else they may be, children are not fragile objects to be protected at all times.
