OPINION: 'Instead of patting himself on the back, I suggest the writer consider the challenges of child-rearing and growing up today,' writes Tucsonan Alison Jones.
Regarding the March 13 opinion piece “Let your kids thrive on their own,” the piece lacks some important insight to growing up in the 1950s. The writer recalls that he and his classmates — Catalina High School Class of 1959 — were overachievers whose parents had a hands-off philosophy to child-rearing. There were no organized activities or play dates; the Internet didn’t exist. I don’t doubt there were overachievers in the class, and it’s great that these folks now excel in life.
People are also reading… In 1959, a middle-class family could live comfortably on one paycheck. Union jobs were more plentiful, right-to-work laws were less prevalent, and a college degree to support a family was optional. Health care was a minor part of the family budget, and higher education was affordable. I suspect that the writer and his classmates were not “left alone” to find their way. They likely had stay-at-home mothers who knew their friends and their parents.
There are kids right now, in Tucson, who go home from school on Friday and don’t know if they’ll eat again before Monday. There are kids who don’t feel safe at home, who have no place to study, or whose parents are too exhausted to engage. These stressors profoundly impact a child’s brain development, with lifelong negative implications. The structure of organized activities can be a partial safety net.
It is physically impossible to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. No one is a self-made success.Tags Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion
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