Does the overprotected child articulate values we are proud of in 2014? Nothing is easier than judging other peoples’ parenting, but there is a side of contemporary American culture — fearful, litigious, controlling — that we do not brag about but that we reveal in our child rearing, and that runs contrary to our self-image as an open, optimistic nation. Maybe this is why sheltering parents come in for so much easy criticism: A visit to the playground exposes traits we would rather not recognize.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/opinion/sunday/the-wild-children-of-yesteryear.html?hp&rref=opinion
In the past, children have been unprotected and legions of them died because of our callous or indifferent parenting. That we are discussing its opposite is, in some ways, a good sign. That being said, the way that some of us cling to our children is neurotic, but even worse, the way we police one another for our parenting is borderline psychotic. The era of policing one another and being policed by the state is here. We need fairy tales more than ever to find our way out of these woods.