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Social practices and cultural beliefs of modern life are preventing healthy brain and emotional development in children, according to an interdisciplinary body of research presented recently at a symposium at the University of Notre Dame.
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"Breast-feeding infants, responsiveness to crying, almost constant touch and having multiple adult caregivers are some of the nurturing ancestral parenting practices that are shown to positively impact the developing brain, which not only shapes personality, but also helps physical health and moral development," says Narvaez.Studies show that responding to a baby's needs (not letting a baby "cry it out") has been shown to influence the development of conscience; positive touch affects stress reactivity, impulse control and empathy; free play in nature influences social capacities and aggression; and a set of supportive caregivers (beyond the mother alone) predicts IQ and ego resilience as well as empathy.
The United States has been on a downward trajectory on all of these care characteristics, according to Narvaez. Instead of being held, infants spend much more time in carriers, car seats and strollers than they did in the past. Only about 15 percent of mothers are breast-feeding at all by 12 months, extended families are broken up and free play allowed by parents has decreased dramatically since 1970.
On the other side, there's hand-wringing about helicopter parenting.
(Score: 2) by mechanicjay on Friday August 21 2015, @05:44PM
No, you're just completely and utterly wrong.
We raising two boys and do all the things mentioned in TFA, which is absolutely not "Helicopter Parenting".
I let my children fail at a task before offering guidance, and try never to just do something for them, rather I try to help guide them to success on their own. Soon they stop asking my help for a particular task and do it themselves.
This parenting methodology is the Antithesis to Helicopter parenting, it's about helping the kid grow into an independent and self-confident person. I'm giving my kids a safe and supportive environment to learn how to make mistakes and learn how to deal with feelings and emotions rather than protecting and shielding them from the real-world. This isn't about being friends with your kids, it's more like being a life mentor.
My VMS box beat up your Windows box.