S06.E05: Public Shaming

[Chaos Theory]

I don't have kids so I  admit that I have little context for the drive to get your kids into the best school available.   But my sister and her husband considered living in my aunts old house even though they weren't paying rent for a lot longer then they had agreed to because it was in a good school district once she got pregnant.  Their first choices of houses was eventually decided against because it wasn't in a good school district.    My sister was actually told while pregnant to decide on pre-k and kinderguarden schools.  Maybe it is a middle class white east coast thing but we aren't exactly rich.  My sister and her husband do well but they were told that in order to give their child a good start they needed to pick a school for him while he was in the womb.  And these were from friends who weren't even helicopter parents.  

I think times have just changed and competition has gotten harsher or at least in your face for some reason.  If you don't have your kids entire life planned out while they are still in the womb you are doing something wrong.   My sister got lucky that she has family to take care of a bunch of things like looking for day cares and what nots.  My father looked into that pretty early on so my sister didn't have to stress too much about that.  But I can see parents pretty early getting told that if they don't have a plan for their child's success the child won't succeed.  

Add millions of dollars and fame to the equation and you have the potential for disaster.....as we have seen.  

Of course you could just ignore it all.  But that is getting harder and harder to do.....as we have also seen.

Edited March 24, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Hanahope]

21 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

 Its that 82% of Americans feel they don't have that opportunity that really pisses them off about the scandal.  

82% percent can't afford to cheat.  They just don't have the money.

[ALenore]

On 3/24/2019 at 3:15 PM, 2727 said:

There are helicopter parents who would do anything to make their kids happy, but many of those caught in this trap appear to be more focused on their own prestige/status; i.e., being able to brag that their kid goes to X school.

I guess I'd rather believe that the majority of parents across all socioeconomic groups just aren't that concerned about reflected glory from their offspring.

I just read an article in the New York Times about the latest phenomenon "snowplow parents"  

Quote

Some affluent mothers and fathers now are more like snowplows: machines chugging ahead, clearing any obstacles in their child’s path to success, so they don’t have to encounter failure, frustration or lost opportunities.

The article mentioned one kid who didn't like sauce on her food.  Her whole life, her parents had made sure her food never had sauce on it, even calling friends houses before they went over for dinner.  At college, she couldn't cope with cafeteria food covered with sauce.    

[b2H]

10 minutes ago, ALenore said:

I just read an article in the New York Times about the latest phenomenon "snowplow parents"  

The article mentioned one kid who didn't like sauce on her food.  Her whole life, her parents had made sure her food never had sauce on it, even calling friends houses before they went over for dinner.  At college, she couldn't cope with cafeteria food covered with sauce.    

And these kids will be supporting us in our old age.  Be very afraid....   LOL!!!!!

[Danny Franks]

10 hours ago, ALenore said:

I just read an article in the New York Times about the latest phenomenon "snowplow parents"  

The article mentioned one kid who didn't like sauce on her food.  Her whole life, her parents had made sure her food never had sauce on it, even calling friends houses before they went over for dinner.  At college, she couldn't cope with cafeteria food covered with sauce.    

That's hilariously sad. And bizarre. I don't think my parents ever would have had the time to be that controlling and coddling, even if they had wanted to be. I don't really have any intention of becoming a parent (who would want to bring children into the world we're destroying?) but if I did, I'm fairly sure I'd be encouraging them to make their own mistakes and learn.

[xaxat]

On 3/25/2019 at 5:02 PM, ALenore said:

Some affluent mothers and fathers now are more like snowplows: machines chugging ahead, clearing any obstacles in their child’s path to success, so they don’t have to encounter failure, frustration or lost opportunities.

My parents let me make so many stupid choices when I was a kid. . . and I have the scars to prove it.

ETA Law Professor Orin Kerr on the Mueller Report

Monica's reply.

She's great.

Edited March 27, 2019 by xaxat