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I look at this as a sign of society evolving. Subtle emotional traumas exist, micro-aggressions exist. Way more things are harmful to children than we are reall

I look at this as a sign of society evolving. Subtle emotional traumas exist, micro-aggressions exist. Way more things are harmful to children than we are really aware of. Mental health issues scale smoothly from 'nonexistent' to 'makes you completely nonfunctional' and can't be easily separated from 'ordinary' personality. Society was not-so-blissfully unaware of these aspects of life, this is the process of coming to awareness. You overreact out of confusion at first, but eventually you figure it out and move on to the next lesson. It's how society works, you think they didn't have breathless articles in the '50's bemoaning both the fears of the day and the overreactions to those fears?

aklemm 11y ago
I try to take your view day-to-day, but ultimately, it seems like we've veered well into overreaction territory rather than simply conscientious reactions to dangers.
codingdave 11y ago
I thought the article laid out nice examples where the "evolving" can be good in some ways, but harmful in others. I know teenagers who have never been left alone. I know people graduating high school who have never independently taken care of themselves. And even on an independence scale, when I was 18, my friends and I could pretty much survive on our own in wilderness situations just fine, and we did - heading into the woods and mountains to explore almost every day. Nowadays that would get you on reality TV shows. Sure, things are safer now... As long as we all stick inside the little boxes society provides for us. But that is not always what is actually best for us.
weberc2 11y ago
The more concerning thing is that these words have broadened in definition such that when someone is accused of being prejudiced, people think KKK and not "someone who committed a microaggression". Further, these sensitivities disproportionately affect certain groups; we're very concerned about microaggressions toward certain groups, but hate toward other groups seems to be on the increase.

aklemm 11y ago

I try to take your view day-to-day, but ultimately, it seems like we've veered well into overreaction territory rather than simply conscientious reactions to dangers.

codingdave 11y ago

I thought the article laid out nice examples where the "evolving" can be good in some ways, but harmful in others. I know teenagers who have never been left alone. I know people graduating high school who have never independently taken care of themselves. And even on an independence scale, when I was 18, my friends and I could pretty much survive on our own in wilderness situations just fine, and we did - heading into the woods and mountains to explore almost every day. Nowadays that would get you on reality TV shows. Sure, things are safer now... As long as we all stick inside the little boxes society provides for us. But that is not always what is actually best for us.

weberc2 11y ago

The more concerning thing is that these words have broadened in definition such that when someone is accused of being prejudiced, people think KKK and not "someone who committed a microaggression". Further, these sensitivities disproportionately affect certain groups; we're very concerned about microaggressions toward certain groups, but hate toward other groups seems to be on the increase.