Bad Parenting Trends (we can learn from)

08 Dec 2010 No Comments

by Rachel Zahnin Parenting Tags: ,

Let’s face it, there’s way too much advice for parents out there. One of the most confusing things for both advice givers and advice takers (and I place myself in both groups) is the sheer volume of … information … that exists, to put it kindly. On my first day of med school a wise professor told us, “Half of what you learn here will turn out to be wrong. The problem is, we don’t know which half.”

If the past is prologue, it’s also full of all sorts of cautionary tales. So-called facts and accepted truths of all kinds that we absorb and include in our decision making about what is good and bad, and what we should and should not do.

Hormone replacement therapy for post-menopausal women is one example. Subprime mortgages is another. Then there’s the polyester leisure suit, which many of you don’t remember, and Latisse, the prescription product that grows longer eyelashes, which I predict will turn out to be a bad idea.

Life is full of trial and error, and so is the history of parenting trends. In case you’ve forgotten some of the seriously misguided concepts we used to take as gospel, here’s a partial list.

Refusing vaccination because thimerosal causes autism. I know you don’t all agree, but I’m standing by this one. The research is on my side.

Birthday parties that cost as much as weddings. Maybe this is wishful thinking, but it looks like this values-crusher is on the way out.
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