This is my controversial post for the week. I have seen countless parents at stores that have their children on a leash. There are many ways to approach this situation. Maybe the child is hard to control, tough to keep track of, your afraid of he/she being kidnapped etc... I would love to approach this with a pair of scissors, setting this poor child free from the monkey backpack leash that constrains them. Children need to be allowed to walk the stores knowing they need to stay close to mommy and daddy. Heck if they do get lost in
Target they should have been taught to find an authority figure (employee) and have you paged (personal story there). This will not only teach them how to think for themselves also it will give them experience with emergency situations. If they are old enough to walk on their own in a store, then they're old enough to be shown what to do if they get seperated from mom or dad. It may just be a coincidence that a lot of these "bound children" that are being walked like a dog are being walked by an overweight parent. This is not to offend, merely an observation that leads me to think that in those situations they are just plain lazy.
The leash is a great invention. It allows us to keep control, keep close, and maintain dominence... With our pets, not our children. Kids these days are so protected that when they get that little taste of freedom they take it to the extreme. Spend the time to teach your kid to stay close, and not wonder, keep an eye on them, and if they happen to get lost hiding in the clothes rack then it will be a lesson well learned when they have to embarrass mommy on the page system in the store.
It's like when you keep grounding a child for going out and having a little bit of fun. We all know that kids have to learn for themselves because they don't want to listen. When a kid gets grounded and can't go out with friends when they're younger it's inevitable that when they reach the legal 'going out' age they'll just flip with the freedom be it 18 or 21. When a child grows up learning from theirs and friends mistake they will always be way more mature when they reach the age of legalities.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% Deniseysa, I saw it first hand (being that I just graduated HS in 2009). Thank you for the comment.
DeleteMuch appriciated,
Nick
I remember seeing these things and wondering what atrocious parent would ever put their kid on a leash. Fast forward a few years, to a point in time when my wife and I were responsible for a 5 and 9 year old. They had come to live with us temporarily while their parents got their life in order. They were very unruly, most of all the 5 year old girl. She had no regard to instruction and would pull and push until she managed to wiggle herself free and would proceed to run across parking lots, and through the grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteWe had recently moved to Atlanta, and being new to the city and having to chase after a very quick 5 year old who didn't listen to the word 'stop' was very frightening. This eventually landed her on a leash. This was my wife's idea, and at first I was dead set against it, but the thing actually worked. It wasn't a permanent solution, and the girl only wore the thing a maximum of about three weeks. After she learned to calm down the thing came off.
While I still don't like the idea of using the leash just for the mere sake of using it, I can now see it's benefits when you've run out of options.
Dang, that is an intense situation. I didn't really think of it as saving a little one from crossing freeways lol. I guess in that case anything is necessary. Especially since it sounds like you werent involved in how they were raised untill you became responsible for them. Thank you for the input and giving me some insight on a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteNick