Do you think we have gone to far when it comes to protecting kids these days?

Oh yes without a doubt. I think its more of a problem here in the western society rather than the world as a whole. When I was younger I was allowed to go out and climb trees, play in the fields and all my mother said to me was be home when the street lights come on. My younger sister (7yrs younger) was not allowed to do any of that. She got driven everywhere by my parents when ever she needed to go out - over protection if you ask me. But i think the problem lies with the need of the parents now-a-days to be liked by their children.

When I was younger (which wasnt too long ago) if I wanted something like a new pair of shoes and my mother didnt think I required them, I would save up my pocket money to buy them. Kids today get pretty much anything that they want. Its the same with being 'picked' for a team, you have to work for it, it shouldnt be handed to you on a plate. If you work for it and earn it, it gives you a sense of satisfaction that 'you' did it!

I think the value of either working or earning to get what you want is lost on the kids today. I have even found that those that are just a few years younger than myself believe that they will get a high paid job straight out of university; how wrong they are, you have to work and show complete dedication before you get the fat pay cheque. They are deluded about the real world how the real world operates and sometimes (as I have done) told them how to do something correctly, to which I was told I was completely wrong and they knew better? Erm Hello didnt get to where I am today by questioning my seniors....Basically respect is being lost also.

Im sorry Synthia, as you can see by my mini tome this subject gets we wound up, kids these days should still get a clip around the ear instead of the latest games console.

I think that as a society we are becoming more concious of emotional development, but our ways of addressing them are misguided.

As so much responsibility of our children is placed on organisations (like school or the government) cases can't be taken on an individual level, there has to be a standard format of treating each child. Obviously, this doesn't work, but it needs to be done because large organisations have to have procedures to follow so everything can be regulated.

There is something starting up in the UK called Every Child Matters (or something like that) which is supposed to take into account every childs spiritual and emotional development, but it is still all forms and quotas so I don't know how well it is going to work out!

The biggest problem though, is the transition between child and adulthood. A person suddenly goes from being taken care of by everybody (even complete strangers have a legal responsibility to report anything about a child) to nobody, overnight. Unless this is graduated the shock is often to much.

They are definately not allowed to experience anything. Being rejected teaches you that not everyone will like you. That the world is not fair. I see a whole generation of new adults coming up that think they should get to start at the top, make big money at the get-go and think that i have to be "fair". Life is not fair, i have a business to run and i make my decisions based on my need and my businesses need not what is "fair". If they knew how to fail maybe they wouldn't have to hide from reality by using drugs.

I agree with what I believe to be your stance... Children are, for the most part, pampered beyond belief. They have no concepts of what it's going to be like when they leave their bubble of a "home life". As you said, rejection along with dealing with people are the two major ones. Without these "people skills", they are bound for unhappy, unsuccessful lives. But, I also believe that these skills far outweigh the "book smarts", which I believe are important as well but, there has to be a balance.

Well we started actually caring about children....then we got more protective...its not our fault but kids are more safer...but they have less fun... example there is 100% which filled up by fun and safety... if there is 90% fun there is only 10% safety...get what i'm saying?

Nope we haven't gone too far. It's for their own good that we protect them so someday they'll understand, don't worry they'll be just fine....