Overprotective parents are slowing down their children’s development into adults, a leading parenting journalist has said.
Mother of three Georgina Fuller said she believes fear has eclipsed common sense when it comes to parenting.
"Why are we so fearful to let our kids have some freedom now and do we really think anyone, not least us knackered parents, [is] benefiting from this 'what if' catastrophising mindset?", she wrote in Britain's i Newspaper on Monday.
She told Newstalk Breakfast there has definitely been a shift in parenting styles.
"I don't know if it's related to the pandemic, most recently," she said.
"I think it's been a gradual shift from being parents-led, and not having the word 'parenting' as a verb at all, and kids just doing what they're told and 'Do as I say, not as I do' as my mum used to say to me in the 80s, to being very, very child centric.
"I don't know if it's because we're having less children or we're more pressured with both parents working but it's certainly been a seismic shift from the 80s".
'Detrimental to their health'
Ms Fuller said parents becoming more protective of their children isn't good for them.
"I think the problem is that we are seeing - again this is probably partly related to the pandemic - higher rates of anxiety, depression and mental health issues in children which we haven't seen before," she said.
She said the issue may be related to “the digital world that we're now living in and them spending more and more time online”.
"That, in my view, is the most frightening outlook,” she said.
"We know that being online is detrimental to their health, and we know that it's preventing them from being outside and from learning really important social skills and life skills.
"I think, because parents are so overprotective now and because we are somehow in this state of paranoia - this kind of 'what if' mentality - what we're doing is we're cocooning our children so much that they're not growing, they're not developing."
Ms Fuller said the modern style of parenting is not benefiting either parents or children.
"I think we're actually disenabling our children from developing into adults," she said. "I think the fear has eclipsed rational, common sense".
'Character building'
Ms Fuller said children rely on their parents more than they should.
"My mum went back to work when I was four... and I remember feeling a bit put out... I really wanted mum to be there and pick me up and to be a bit more involved," she said.
"Actually, looking back, it's a bit of a cliché but it was character building and it did teach me more about independence and getting on and doing stuff for myself.
"I think now that if my daughter or one of them get stuck on homework, they won't think necessarily to look at Google or an encyclopaedia - they will come and ask me and they'll expect me to solve a problem for them."
Ms Fuller added that she is trying to give her children "more independence and a bit more free rein, but it's not being actively encouraged [by society]".
