Bringing up children isn't kids' stuff - Opinion - smh.com.au: "Melbourne child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg says the parenting crisis has been 'brewing for a long time and has been made a lot worse by a 45 per cent divorce rate, which has created a situation in which half a million young people move between two households every fortnight'.
This causes many time-poor parents to feel guilty, and vow not to be authoritarian figures, for fear of being unpopular. Carr-Gregg, author of Surviving Adolescents, calls it 'Tamagotchi parenting', taking the name from the Japanese virtual pet toy, regularly fed and watered but without moral guidance.
He sees digitally savvy children disappearing behind an 'emotional firewall' at home. 'They see parents as people you watch TV with', whereas their emotional relationships are with their friends, with whom they are permanently connected via mobile phone and instant messaging in a cyber world unsupervised by adults. 'Parents are becoming really worried about losing control of their children,' he says. 'Traditionally they would have got advice from extended family. But this is the first generation left to bring up children on their own.'
He applauds Super Nanny for teaching parents 'there needs to be some discipline in the house', and 'some setting of consistent limits and boundaries'. The enormous ratings success of the show points to the fact a generation of parents schooled in permissive parenting techniques is searching for answers to children who rule the roost at home."
