'Letting the tablet raise them': Parents share the parenting trends they disagree with

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Apr 9, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

Throughout the past 100 years, many different parenting trends have gone in and out of style. One of the biggest trends that has all but dissipated is parents leaving their kids outside to play by themselves for hours at a time. Starting with panic about child abductions in the 80s, compounded with the rise of technology, kids' ability to play outside unattended has nearly vanished over the past 40 years. Is it a shame? Is it a worthy sacrifice for their safety? It's difficult to say for sure.

Some new parenting trends seem to be beneficial. Many young parents are rejecting the idea that you can "spoil a baby" with too much love and affection, which was an idea Dr. Spock promulgated during the mid-20th century. While lots of modern parents are fixated on healing generational wounds, not all of the newfangled ideas in parenting are best practices. Parents took to Reddit to share parenting trends they aren't down with, and some of them are undeniably onto something. 

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  • 01
    What parenting 'trend' you disagree with?
    via Alvin Mahmudov
  • 02
    r/AskReddit u/The_WhiteMantis • 6h What parenting 'trend' you disagree with?
    via u/The_WhiteMantis
  • 03
    aileen_feder 6h The trend of oversharing kids' lives on social media. It's like turning your child's childhood into a reality TV show. Reply 3k
    via u/aileen_feder
  • 04
    Person McNugget • 6h I have a cousin that posts about twenty photos every single day of her kids. I've met these kids maybe once in real life but I know everything about them just because of FB. ... 396
    via u/PersonMcNugget
  • 05
    The WhiteMantis OP. 4h Every time I see that kind of posts, I just wonder how this will affect the mental development of the child, especially in teenage years, knowing that their whole life has been disclosed on the parents' social medias accounts ... 117
    via u/The_WhiteMantis
  • 06
    kimtenisqueen • 3h I'm gonna go in a little bit of a different direction: parents not watching their own behavior when it comes to screen time, frustration tolerance, discipline, etc. You've got to dig deep and figure out how to role model the behaviors you want your kids to do. If you are on your phone 24/7 and throw a fit every time the slightest thing inconveniences you you aren't gonna have a good time with your kids doing anything different. ... Reply 292
    via u/kimtenisqueen
  • 07
    sweetopportunityy ⚫ 6h Making your child's entire identity revolve around their extracurricular activities. Let them be kids, not robotic machines for your bragging rights. Reply 1.3k
    via u/sweetopportunityy
  • 08
    ladyteruki • 3h Adding to that boredom is underrated. Let your kid have an inner life. ... 475
    via u/ladyteruki
  • 09
    ChelleDotCom • 4h I guess this is kinda specific, but my son is autistic, so it applies to me. I hate the "Autism Mom" thing. The t-shirts, the unsolicited "advocacy"...it seems like an attention seeking thing to me. My kid has autism, ADHD, and anxiety, and it takes approximately 5 seconds of being around him to notice. I will fight for him always, of course, but I won't use him as a badge either. I won't hide his diagnosis from him, but I won't let him use it as an excuse either. And some of t
    via u/ChelleDotCom
  • 10
    ModsR-Ruining-Reddit • 5h Letting the tablet raise them. Reply 455
    via u/ModsR-Ruining-Reddit
  • 11
    BrandNewSentience • 2h It's crazy how many parents try to defend this. "What am I supposed to do? My 3 year old screams in the restaurant and then I get looks and judgment." You're supposed to do what every parent of every child prior to 2010 or so has done. You talk to them. You distract them. You comfort them. And if none of that works, you take them outside. Too much screen time is bad for me, and I didn't have access to screens 24/7 until I was a full grown adult. Think about how bad it is f
    via u/BrandNewSentience
  • 12
    User-1967. 6h Never saying no to your child ... Reply 975
    via u/User-1967
  • 13
    Strong Tomato Surprise • 4h I'm a SPED teacher. I hate the no thing. I understand that sometimes we might need to teach some children to get more accustomed to hearing no (like a fade in process) with some of our more severe kiddos. However, everyone has to be able to hear the word no. It's ridiculous. 292
    via u/StrongTomatoSurprise
  • 14
    Am_0116 • 3h . I've seen a small yet growing trend of homeschooled kids where the parents are are completely neglectful of actual education and basically let the kid do whatever they want. They don't follow standardised curriculum for the sake of "letting kids be kids." If your kid can barely read at 10 years old, you're setting them up to fail as an adult ... Reply 399
    via u/Am_0116
  • 15
    Individual-Army811 • 3h My great nephews are products of homeschooling and are barely literate as adults. It's tragic, but we couldn't convince their mom (our inlaw) to change. 101
    via u/Individual-Army811
  • 16
    Fun_Intention_5371.6h Not teaching children proper manners/behavior Please and thank you go a long way in this life. Also not helping kids with conversation skills. Conversation usually goes back and forth. With no phones involved Reply 673
    via u/Fun_Intention_5371
  • 17
    Person McNugget • 6h It seems like there can't be a happy medium for many people. Either they are letting the kids run the household, or they are so afraid of being 'soft' that they borderline abuse their kids to make them 'strong'. ... Reply 350
    via u/PersonMcNugget
  • 18
    DarthArtero 6h • Helicopter parenting, or whatever you wanna call it. As a child that was sheltered and despite my wishes, parents would always intervene and I became way to reliant on that. Wasn't until my mid-20s that someone helped me realized what was going on and I had to relearn how to live basically. Sure my parents did what they thought was best, it ended up really ☐ me later in life and I'm still in the process of figuring out what it means to be independent and how to fight for myself
    via u/DarthArtero
  • 19
    hatterhag⚫ 6h I hate when people dress up their baby girls in outfits a woman should be wearing. Like there are little girls outfits that are adorable and meant for a little girl. But no little girl should be wearing a body suit and ripped jeans or a crop top and low rise bellbottoms, it gives me the creeps. ... Reply 596
    via u/hatterhag

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