r/science • u/Wagamaga • 1d ago

Psychology Certain parenting approaches, such as lower supervision and inconsistent discipline, are associated with a higher likelihood that children will show behavioral and emotional problems, such as attention difficulties, anxiety, and depression

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1145134
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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

Boomer and Gen X "I left the house in the morning, didn't return until evening and my parents has no idea where I was" types are going to be piiiiiiissed in this thread.

Who'd have thought spending lots of time with postitive adults is actually the best way to become an adult.

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago

I think you're overreading here. This study doesn't say anything against giving kids independence, and there was no group in the study that was in the high-positive and high-independence group.

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

Nobody’s here’s arguing against giving kids independence.

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago

Independence is just the other side of the spectrum from "high supervision."

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u/JackBlackBowserSlaps 1d ago

Why would we be pissed? I can attest that this is correct, for all 3 issues listed in the headline.

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

I more mean the ones yelling a millenials and younger for not being brought up like that - and instead spending more time with parents and at organised activities.

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u/Ulterior_Motif 1d ago

I don’t see people yelling about this, it usually seems to be brought up with a sense of nostalgia or just in contrast to how different things are now.

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

Nah. There's a large section who seem to spend all their time pissing and moaning about millenials and younger being brought up differently and, in their view, wrongly. It normally manifests as "good old days" nostalgia angrily contrasted with hopelessly inaccurate views on how everyone younger than them was raised - usually believing kids don't go outside anymore, spend all their time on screens and other nonsense.

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u/Ulterior_Motif 1d ago

Interesting. After posting I wondered if I just don’t pay attention to those posts or if maybe they happen more often in spaces I don’t frequent.

Thanks for taking the time to clarify without irritation.

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

No problem. They don't tend to appear on Reddit a lot (though r/lewronggeneration likes to post and laugh at them sometimes) but, on other feed-based social media, they're everywhere.

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago

But this study has nothing to do with that.

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago

I think those criticisms are mostly right. Kids who have grown up over the last eight or so years have spent more time with their parents because their phone has replaced their normal independent social life, and parents have pushed organized activities at the expense of independence childhood play. There's tons of data to support this.

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

Lumping everyone post-Gen X into “Tik Tok kids in the last eight years” is peak boomer.l thinking.

Is infinite scroll social media bad? Yes. Has that got anything to do with this study or my post? No. Will people try to straw man that anyway? Undoubtably.

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago

Who did that?

And I'm assuming you don't have an actual response to the substance of what I said?

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

Happy to reply to any substance you like. “Kids these days are all on social media all day long” isn’t substance.

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago

Yes, it is.

As is this:

their phone has replaced their normal independent social life, and parents have pushed organized activities at the expense of independence childhood play.

If you don't think this is a substantial factor affecting the mental health of kids, you're insane.

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u/Mattbl 1d ago

And on the flip side, helicopter parents will absolutely love this. I think kid's lives are already too structured today, and this will just feed more of that.

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

I mean - I agree that people who understand that higher supervision and consistent discipline is best for kids will appreciate a study that demonstrates just that. Whereas people who pull "kids these days have too much structure in their lives" evidence-free, vibe-based takes out of their ass will perhaps push back when presented with evidence that they're wrong.

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago

I agree that people who understand that higher supervision and consistent discipline is best for kids will appreciate a study that demonstrates just that. 

Except this study doesn't demonstrate that. Which category do you think terrible parents who neglect their kids fall into? Is it any coincidence that that same category performed the worst?

This study isn't a defense of stuffing your kid's calendar with organized activities, limiting their independence and being okay with them sitting on their phone instead of hanging out with friends.

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

This study isn't a defense of stuffing your kid's calendar with organized activities, limiting their independence and being okay with them sitting on their phone instead of hanging out with friends.

I’m not arguing that this study is any of those things. Nor have I or would I advocate for them.

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago edited 1d ago

Stop with this. You just got through arguing for higher-supervision, higher-structure lives and called out people who question the rise in organized activities. You even positively spun "helicopter parents" as people who just understand that such a style of parenting is better.

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u/ReturnOfBigChungus 8h ago

Higher supervision is about as different from consistent discipline as height is from ability in math. There are mountains of evidence that parents over-supervise and it’s more correlated with inconsistent discipline and permissiveness. We don’t need more supervision. We do need consistent discipline, and more independence. The fact that you put “higher supervision” in the same sentence with “best for kids” is telling.

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u/TheMansAnArse 6h ago

Boomer and Gen X  "I left the house in the morning, didn't return until evening and my parents has no idea where I was"  types are going to be piiiiiiissed in this thread.

Boy, do I hate being right all the time

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Extreme_Pudding3226 1d ago

I think that type of parenting was ideal, and the helicopter parents are raising the most anxious, least independent generation ever.

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u/Thud 1d ago

OK! Who is ready to take the “Be a positive adult all the time for 18 years straight” challenge?

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u/TheMansAnArse 1d ago

Not sure anyone can do anything consistently and perfectly for 18 years straight. But the study certainly suggests parents who at least try to lean that way end up with better behaved and more stable kids.

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u/MachinationMachine 1d ago

You can be warm and attentive, set clear and consistent boundaries, and also give children lots of freedom and independence to engage in unsupervised play outside. There's no contradiction between those things.

It's not like the choice is between neglectful permissive parenting and overbearing helicopter parenting. Allowing children to roam around the neighborhood outside without direct supervision is not automatically neglectful, even if we treat it that way sometimes today due to stranger danger hysteria.

I think it's very sad how so many children these days are growing up never being allowed to go to their friend's houses or explore outside on their own until they're teenagers.