Posted: Mar 03, 2010 7:18 am
Grimstad wrote:
The fact of the matter is that you have a vey strong negative OPINION of everyones parenting abilities based on your own personal experience.
No, based on my own personal opinion, well realistically I'd ignore it as anecdotal evidence is useless but if I were to accept it then I'd have a more positive view of parenting because I think my parents are great people and I know they did their best to raise me and my siblings. I had an incredibly easy life with my parents, and they were terribly good to me.
From a behavioral science perspective though, my position changes obviously as I think back on some of the things they did and realise how silly they were. I see the same with parents every day, they just have no idea of how to raise kids. And this isn't my "opinion", it's based on my knowledge of behavioral psychology and basic observation of people's parenting style. (Plus, the pragmatic assumption that the average parent hasn't had extensive training in behavioral science).
It's frustrating seeing parents in the supermarket do something to stop a behavior, or to hear parents talk to me about how they are raising a good kid, and the things they do are just cringeworthy. They'll be telling me some "cute" story about their kid and the only thing running through my head is paper after paper of scientific conclusions just screaming at how wrong they are and all the negative side effects that will occur as a result of their mistakes.