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I was born in 84. And in the 90s I knew this 1 kid who told me on his 11th birthday his dad would raise his bicycle seat. I was super confused as that an easy

I was born in 84. And in the 90s I knew this 1 kid who told me on his 11th birthday his dad would raise his bicycle seat. I was super confused as that an easy thing to do(loosen a bolt, adjust height and tighten the bolt). Turns out lots of parents don't allow their kids to touch their tools or tinker or do anything like that. I was very fortunate that my parents encouraged me to do such things. E.g. take apart things to put them together but it doesn't surprise me why lots of people have all the creativity and curiosity purged from them from an early age.

hilbert42 4y ago
"...take apart things to put them together but it doesn't surprise me why lots of people have all the creativity and curiosity purged from them from an early age." You're right, encouraging kids to explore the world at an early age is all important for their development. As a kid I was a past master at pulling all sorts of things apart and somewhat less successful at putting them back together again. And from that I learned a great amount about how stuff worked ('hands-on' at a very young age I reckon is essential to get the feel and measure of stuff). My parents never discouraged me from playing with all sorts of rather strange things—except perhaps in my preschool years when I started rummaging around amongst the inner workings of our large console radio set in the lounge room. At the age of about four or five my mother took exception after I discovered that touching the top cap [aka grid-1] of one of its valves (tubes) caused a very loud humming noise (she came bounding into the room somewhat alarmed to find No.-1 son arm-deep amongst the electrics). By that age I'd already become an inveterate collector of junk—everything from screws, nuts and bolts to discarded power pole wire and insulators. Once I found an old transformer out of a radio set that had green silk-like insulation on its windings (which I found fascinating) and in the evening when my parents told me to stop playing with it I disobeyed the order and hid it in my bed (I know, a very strange kid). Now, you can imagine the furore and trouble I was in when this large metal object came crashing to the floor in the early hours of the morning waking up the whole household. I cannot envisage how horrible my childhood would have been had my parents forbidden me from following my natural instincts (as strange and as odd as they may have seemed). I'm sure many other parents would have been much less tolerant of my strange predilections. In hindsight, I reckon my only saving grace was that my father was an engineer.
noobermin 4y ago
Children today cannot even walk around their own neighborhood because they must be chauffeured by car since the urban environment is more and more suburban, and this makes them not even really understand the layout of even their immediate environment[0]. American children in particular are being robbed of a lot of experience with hands-on learning because of the parenting climate today. [0] https://youtu.be/RrsL2n9q6d0?t=797 https://youtu.be/RrsL2n9q6d0?t=797
- eru 4y ago
  > [...] they must be chauffeured by car since the urban environment is more and more suburban, [...] That is a contributor, but not the only one. Helicopter parenting by itself also shares some of the blame.
  - noobermin 4y ago
    It's a reinforcing phenomenon, with helicopter parenting being one of the facets. The usual way it goes is 1. Parents say the street / road is too dangerous. 2. Parents drive their kids everywhere. 3. They induce more road usage, demand more road infrastructure. They move to suburbs which are more car centric, force more pedestrianized areas (downtowns) to become more car centric. 4. Places become less walkable, and more dangerous for people outside of a car. 5. Go to 1. Some of helicopter parenting is mostly over imagined or exaggerated fears ("crime", being abducted by predators which is rather rare, etc), but fear of car death is in fact valid given it is a leading cause of child death (was number 1 until this year gun death became #1). The unfortunate reality is the very act parents in the US take to make it safe for their children perpetuates the issue the ecogecko video I talk about has. Given at this point no one will let their children be the first to face danger, likely the issue will not ameliorate itself naturally, and government action (pedestrianization, change of streetscapes, change of landuse and zoning, etc) is required. Anyway, rereading your post, cars aren't the only factor in childhood stunting in the US. I'm not sure because I haven't researched outside of the car centric bits (that is supported in research) but it does feel like a culture wide issue in the US.
    - 4y ago

hilbert42 4y ago

"...take apart things to put them together but it doesn't surprise me why lots of people have all the creativity and curiosity purged from them from an early age." You're right, encouraging kids to explore the world at an early age is all important for their development. As a kid I was a past master at pulling all sorts of things apart and somewhat less successful at putting them back together again. And from that I learned a great amount about how stuff worked ('hands-on' at a very young age I reckon is essential to get the feel and measure of stuff). My parents never discouraged me from playing with all sorts of rather strange things—except perhaps in my preschool years when I started rummaging around amongst the inner workings of our large console radio set in the lounge room. At the age of about four or five my mother took exception after I discovered that touching the top cap [aka grid-1] of one of its valves (tubes) caused a very loud humming noise (she came bounding into the room somewhat alarmed to find No.-1 son arm-deep amongst the electrics). By that age I'd already become an inveterate collector of junk—everything from screws, nuts and bolts to discarded power pole wire and insulators. Once I found an old transformer out of a radio set that had green silk-like insulation on its windings (which I found fascinating) and in the evening when my parents told me to stop playing with it I disobeyed the order and hid it in my bed (I know, a very strange kid). Now, you can imagine the furore and trouble I was in when this large metal object came crashing to the floor in the early hours of the morning waking up the whole household. I cannot envisage how horrible my childhood would have been had my parents forbidden me from following my natural instincts (as strange and as odd as they may have seemed). I'm sure many other parents would have been much less tolerant of my strange predilections. In hindsight, I reckon my only saving grace was that my father was an engineer.

noobermin 4y ago

Children today cannot even walk around their own neighborhood because they must be chauffeured by car since the urban environment is more and more suburban, and this makes them not even really understand the layout of even their immediate environment[0]. American children in particular are being robbed of a lot of experience with hands-on learning because of the parenting climate today. [0] https://youtu.be/RrsL2n9q6d0?t=797 https://youtu.be/RrsL2n9q6d0?t=797

eru 4y ago
> [...] they must be chauffeured by car since the urban environment is more and more suburban, [...] That is a contributor, but not the only one. Helicopter parenting by itself also shares some of the blame.
- noobermin 4y ago
  It's a reinforcing phenomenon, with helicopter parenting being one of the facets. The usual way it goes is 1. Parents say the street / road is too dangerous. 2. Parents drive their kids everywhere. 3. They induce more road usage, demand more road infrastructure. They move to suburbs which are more car centric, force more pedestrianized areas (downtowns) to become more car centric. 4. Places become less walkable, and more dangerous for people outside of a car. 5. Go to 1. Some of helicopter parenting is mostly over imagined or exaggerated fears ("crime", being abducted by predators which is rather rare, etc), but fear of car death is in fact valid given it is a leading cause of child death (was number 1 until this year gun death became #1). The unfortunate reality is the very act parents in the US take to make it safe for their children perpetuates the issue the ecogecko video I talk about has. Given at this point no one will let their children be the first to face danger, likely the issue will not ameliorate itself naturally, and government action (pedestrianization, change of streetscapes, change of landuse and zoning, etc) is required. Anyway, rereading your post, cars aren't the only factor in childhood stunting in the US. I'm not sure because I haven't researched outside of the car centric bits (that is supported in research) but it does feel like a culture wide issue in the US.
  - 4y ago