I'm an expert on child development and 'over-parenting' is fueling the teen mental health crisis — six-year-olds should play outside without adult supervision
A leading child development expert has warned that today's parents are so overprotective of their children that their children may struggle to cope with life in adulthood.
Appears on In My Opinion on Radio 5 LiveDr. Amanda Gummer said: 'We coddle our children and it causes a lot of harm to them.'
The expert said the increase in overprotective parenting means children are unable to make decisions for themselves, which is “one of the biggest issues in the mental health crisis we see in teenagers today.”
The gaming expert said many parents are too concerned with 'stranger danger', but the reality is that accidents at home are much more likely than a kidnapping.
Child development expert Dr Amanda Gummer said children should be given “the occasional scraped knee or bruise” because if they don't learn from mistakes in childhood, they won't be able to cope when the consequences are greater in adulthood .
She told Radio 5 Live presenter Ric Edwards: 'There is a fear among parents that is largely unfounded.
'There were some very high-profile kidnapping cases in the 80s and 90s and parents are rightly very afraid that something bad would happen to their children.'
The founder and CEO of the Good Play Guide warned that children are being denied important skills in risk assessment, socialisation, decision-making and friendships, saying these skills come from being allowed to play outside without adult supervision.
Dr. Gummer explained, “As soon as a conflict arises, they look to the parents to resolve it.
“Once you let kids play on their own, they have the opportunity to resolve those conflicts and learn things like empathy and leadership skills.”
She added that the risk of something bad happening to a child is radically reduced if play takes place outside “within shouting distance” of their home.
'Over-parenting' means denying children the opportunity to learn essential life skills
Dr. Gummer called on authorities to create safe play areas for unsupervised children aged six and over. He said traffic was a “legitimate fear” for parents of children traveling alone.
'We need to give children access to local play areas where they can hang out with their friends and develop all those very different skills through play.'
She said today's children lack essential life skills and it leaves them powerless and “takes away their agency” to feel in control of their own lives – both now and later in adulthood.
The expert said: 'We need to let them have a bruise or a scraped knee every now and then so that they understand the dangers and risks.'
She added: “Let them make these mistakes when the consequences are small, and when they are older and the consequences are bigger, they will know how to deal with things.”