Parents, you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

Or just as likely, we’ve got questions and you’ve got answers.

Challenge: Open Discussion

Being a Protective Parent: Is It Good or Bad?

8
Vote up!
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email this article

Parents often struggle with the difficult task of keeping their kids from harm’s way. Why is it difficult? Well, obviously, kids are prone to explore the wonderful world unfolding before their eyes. In the process of course, injuries are inevitable, and you can expect your young one to let out a melancholy cry when the branch he is sitting on suddenly broke.

Sometimes, overprotective parenting is understandable. As parents, we strive only the best for our children, which also involves making sure they won’t get themselves hurt, indoors and elsewhere. But you can bet that being overprotective actually does more harm than good.

Writing for Psychology Today, Nathan Lents says it is important to expose children to acute stress. Children basically understand better when they directly interact with certain stimuli. Citing recent behavioral studies, Lents drives home the point that pain and fear are important to developing how a child should react to any situation that induces anxiety.

A recent demonstration of this is found in an episode of the Netflix series Black Mirror entitled “Arkangel.” A mother who suffers from a fear of losing her one and only daughter purchases a microscopic computer which was installed inside the child’s brain. The computer allows the mother to track the child’s whereabouts as well as keep tabs on the child’s health. The technology worked out well. It enabled the mother to prevent her child from potential danger.

Eventually, the lack of exposure to stress-inducing stimuli affected the child’s emotional and social well-being. Being unable to feel dread and pain, the child grew up numb towards the world around her, indifferent towards depictions of violence and unacquainted with her destructive drives.

So, to ask ourselves whether it’s bad to be protective, we should only look towards what could be best way to rear our children. Overprotection has its side effects. Sometimes, we need our children to experience negative emotions so they can grow up to be emotionally and socially mature individuals. Then again, being protective, if done right, can actually help your child to achieve better growth and learning. At times, a dash of extra care can go a long way when it comes down to keeping your kid disciplined without reducing his interaction to stressful stimuli.

One thing’s for sure, accidents can happen anytime and anywhere. And while it’s a bad idea to keep our kids away from stressful situations, we can always look towards the environment in keeping them safe from harm. In this case, surveillance cameras are a viable option if you opt to allow your child to explore and discover on their own while making sure they will not go overboard with their curiosity. Services such as Vdashcam.com provide a ready list of surveillance systems that are designed to link up with a mobile application. This will allow you to monitor your child’s activities from afar. You can work easy knowing your child is exposed to the right amount of danger that will get him or her to learn valuable lessons they can apply in later life.

This post comes from the TODAY Parenting Team community, where all members are welcome to post and discuss parenting solutions. Learn more and join us! Because we're all in this together.