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Grandparents fear today’s children are doomed!

A majority of grandparents surveyed in The Australian Seniors Series: Raising Modern Australia believe children are doomed because of modern parenting styles, with 81 per cent fearing for the future happiness of their grandchildren.

The survey of 1000 grandparents also found nearly three in five believe parenting styles have become somewhat or considerably worse since they were raising children, shared Illawarra mercury.

More than half believe their grandchildren will be much less capable, self-sufficient, resilient, disciplined and have much less moral character.

“They also believe their grandchildren will be negatively impacted by the praise and reward-inspired culture that exists today,” the survey said.

The survey also found parents believe grandparents waved off concerns about dietary requirements and personal safety for children too easily.

When Lynette Honeysett was a child in the 1960s, discipline was swift and sometimes harsh.

“We got smacked with a wooden spoon if we were naughty, and it happened on a regular basis,” she said. “I can remember copping quite a few hidings.”

Ms Honeysett said she believed parents paid too much attention to their smartphones when they were with their children: “It’s a particular bugbear of mine. I say to Joel ‘Get off your phone’.”

She also said we need to avoid helicopter parenting.

“Let her run, fall over,” she said. “If she breaks an arm, she’s going to learn a lesson that way.”

However Dr Justin Coulson is concerned that the ongoing attitude of  “well I turned out okay“ is really not helping.

“We think we turned out okay because we don’t know how we might have turned out had things been different.

“Do you really think that being yelled at or hit with a wooden spoon is going to create better people? I don’t. My feeling is that more kindness will lead to so many improved outcomes for our children. There is so much pain in the world. Better parenting can reduce that pain.”

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  • I think each generation has most likely sad the same thing.

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  • Most likely each generation has thought their way was best. We all make mistakes parenting, new and old generations.

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  • I think there are a few parents that don’t discipline their kids at all. These are the ones we see in public, screaming, shouting, running around in shops and the parents do nothing. What they do in their own home is their business, but kids shouldn’t be running riot in shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes. I also think the “cotton wool” approach has gone too far. Too many safety issues, it’s too dangerous, etc is ruining it for kids. I loved my childhood, yes I did get disciplined the hard way but respect my parents and didn’t end up with any psychological problems. I can see the older generations point of view.

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  • I think every child needs something different; there is no one solution for all. I also think that teachers/peers are spending more time with children than parents and these have a huge impact upon the child’s developing character and traits. Parents are sometimes battling against what goes on outside the home and attitudes/behaviours/expectations that the child brings back that undermines what they are trying to do… eg during year 4 my kids had a teacher who shouted and from that day they don’t respond to me when I use a normal voice.

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  • I think it is hard to be consistent with discipline when parents are juggling jobs, responsibilities and after school activities. My husband has no experience with raising kids or being a sibling, so raising kids is a learning experience for him. His dad was never involved in raising kids just the disciplining. We are all trying our best!

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  • They just like to think their way is the right way. You just have to do what’s best for you and your family at the time.

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  • I’m not overly concerned about the less harsh forms of discipline, if they work great…but it does concern me how many kids aren’t allowed to run around …I find many young kids now days have a negative look on life in general…my 7yr old grandson has talked about dying or it would be better I he was dead….along with other ‘hard life’ comments yet he has so much love and toys etc….where does it come from?

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  • I am old school for a younger mum and kind of agree.

    I think alot of parents these days do not discipline their children well enough and they are rude & disrespectful compared to older generations.

    I used to get the wooden spoon etc myself growing up which I don’t agree with and would not do BUT it did work cos I didn’t want to cop it again so was cautious of what I did. I think there needs to be a balance & kids should still get praised but disciplined and know their are consequences for their actions.

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  • I don’t think it matters what era, parents will always be judged. Mothers are sometimes one another worst enemies. Let’s support one another and rather than judge!

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  • I’m sure our grandparents thought the same things.

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  • I’m a little old school with my parenting but I also believe some boundaries and discipline help and a little freedom to learn their own lessons

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  • My daughter’s name is Aurora but from about 2 hours after birth we started calling her Rory. She often gets called Roars by people close to her and I call her Roars Grace (Grace being her middle name) . But if you ask her what her name is she always says Aurora and that is how she has learnt to write her name.

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  • I also agree with mom418599 and Mum2archer different time now.

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  • Let kids be kids, they will make mistakes and learn from them.

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  • I think the problem is that some people went from one extreme to the other. I think there is a happy and healthy balance to be made. I do not believe that neglect or abuse is ever warranted even in the name of “teaching a lesson.”

    Reply

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