basically our whole society is set up around the nuclear family as an ideal and giving parents pretty much unquestioned power over kids. there's some law enforcement policing of the worst abuses, sometimes...but LE is also incredibly abusive and dangerous for kids.
-
-
Show this thread
-
really addressing these power imbalances would require sweeping social changes that would make society pretty much unrecognizable. the power disproportion between parents and children is just fundamental to our social life.
Show this thread -
there are some things we could do! end laws allowing teachers and parents to hit kids. abolish the voting age. make college free. provide no questions asked housing to young people. provide a UBI for young people.
Show this thread -
I think that would all help to some extent in various ways. but the fact that even surface efforts to ameliorate this problem aren't on the table is a good sign of just how entrenched and difficult it is.
Show this thread -
and so people are like, well not worth talking about then. but you can't even begin to solve a problem if you won't admit it's a problem.
Show this thread -
people like the idea that parents are good and will not harm their kids, too. even though there's just tons of evidence that that is not true. (anyone given huge amounts of power is likely to abuse it in some ways.)
Show this thread -
wrote about this at greater length here.https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-tyranny-of-parents/ …
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
The closest thing to an answer is being aware of it and trying to keep an eye on yourself and any other caretakers for the kid. The people who most hate your take on parenting are the people who hate the very idea of holding themselves to account.
-
Just apply the general rule of giving people as much autonomy as you can, and be aware that sometimes restricting that might be beneficial or simply necessary. Avoid it where possible, mitigate the harm where not. Err on the side of not being an authoritarian shit.
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
yeah it's like, there's a fundamental power imbalance, and you just always have to have that in mind when you and your kid are in any sort of conflict so that you're not just steamrolling them for your own selfish ends
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.