"Britain has an unhealthy relationship with its children"?

Wrapping children up in cotton wool is one problem. We don't allow children to take reasonable risks any more.

A further problem is parents who want to be best friends with their children, always taking their side against authority in school and not instilling discipline.

Yet another problem is adults being fearful of children, gangs of anti-social youths out of control with nobody wanting to tackle them.

All three problems are examples of Britain having an unhealthy relationship with its children.

I think when either one or both people are constantly miserable. And/or when there is constant drama. Addictive relationships can sometimes be dangerous. They are definitely unhealthy. If you want a relationship that is going to last, whether you live together or get married, the relationship needs to have love as it's foundation. Addiction is not love and will eventually die off leaving both parties single again. A relationship made of anything but love will not last. Because when you hit the rough times, love is the only thing that will keep both people together.

There's a book called "Paranoid Parenting" by Frank Furedi which sums this up perfectly.

It stems from the fact that we live in a very paranoid society and also a very litigious one. Parents are scared of their children having accidents or being attacked or abducted, while teachers are scared of being sued or sacked.

Really, childhood is no more risky now than it was 10, 50, or 100 years ago, but adults seem less willing than ever before to let children take those risks, and their personal and emotional development is being stunted because of it.

Hi Sam

I agree with what some of what the article is saying about the hoodies etc perverts hanging around , but you can't call every stranger a pervert and every one with a hoodie a thug. So what do we do wrap the children in cotton wool to protect them well every parent is going to say yes but as they get older they will grow up dependent on there parents to much.

The media are partly to blame. Chris Morris' paedophile Brass Eye special poked fun at the way the media totally blows the threat of paedophiles out of proportion. The fact that many people missed the joke and complained about the show underlines how some sections of society take over-protectiveness to another level

It's true. This is going to sound awful but children NEED to get hurt. It's all part of growing up, it's how we all learn. What's the worst that's going to happen is a sand pit for god's sake? Probably a grazed knee. People spend so long trying to prevent minor things like this that they completely take their eye off of things that ACTUALLY matter.

Good article, i agree the amount of people that are horrified when they find out all my children horse ride ( 13,8 and 3} they say oh that's such a dangerous hobby! i think we are far too protective of our kids they should be allowed to be children, although i don't agree with the protection of paedophiles i think they should all be put down like the animals they are!

I agree that we want to protect our children, but to over protect them can only be detrimental in the long run. If we wrap them all up in cotton wool, they won't have the experience to deal with the doo-doo's (for choice of better words) that life with throw at them in their later years.

I knew a girl who had over protective parents, now she is terrified to leave the house without someone being there with her (I can't remember the name of the condition).

Although that could happen to anyone, I reckon having parents like hers did her no favours

Perhaps when the government make the streets safe and lock up the bad guys, children will be able to have the childhood that we had.

I'll read the full article later, but I do think the writer has some good points.