Ryan Bridge: We've taken parenting to a level beyond useful

I'm part of the generation that grew up pre-cell phones. 

Gifts were usually clothing you needed. Toys were chatter rings, marbles, maybe a skate board. 

There was no 'picky eating', as we've heard about this week. If you didn't finish what was on your plate at dinner, you didn't get a treat afterwards. 

Sweet treats were fruit. Or Raro sachets (sugar rush) if you managed to sneak one out the pantry.

There were no snacks - if you were hungry before dinner, mum would tell you to drink a glass of water. 

School was basics. Maths, reading, writing. A bit of everything else. 

What we're learning, as a society, is that we've collectively taken our eye off the ball. We've taken parenting to a level beyond usefulness. 

Do we need cheap imported asbestos sand to engage toddlers? 

Do we need a thousand fun school subjects in place of decent time on basic ones?

Do we need to tip-toe around kids not eating their veggies, as was suggested yesterday, for fear our kids may develop some eating disorder? 

Do they all need cell phones that helicopter parents message constantly while their kid should be learning in school? 

No, we don't. We didn't then and we don't now. 

The results speak for themselves. 

The Aussies are banning social media. 

Cell phone bans in schools are working.

According to results out yesterday, students forced to do an hour of good old fashioned maths a day made a full year's progress in just 12 weeks. 

Kids are fatter than they've ever been before, so the meal time passive parenting thing clearly isn't working. 

The goods news, it's not too late to turn this around. But frankly, parents and teachers are the ones who need to grow up and show leadership here, not the kids. 

And the best news of all is that most of this stuff is easier and cheaper. We've set expectations too high, boundaries too low, and our kids are paying the price. 

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