Abdication of Parental Responsiblity

In our society these days, where it is sometimes necessary for two incomes to support one family, it seems as though parents are abdicating their responsibility and vital role in parenting their own children. Kids of all ages are shuffled off to day care operations, nannies, pre-schools, and when they age, picked up by the big yellow baby sitter and taken to school for the duration of the day.

There are two areas where our society falls down on the job and could be doing substantially better by its people: 1) teach people how to be in a caring and loving relationship, and 2) teach those who want to be, how to be stellar parents. Most of us opperate from negative role models of one variant or another. What is worse, the trend toward shuffling off parental responsibilities to one baby sitter or another is a trend that needs reversing:

"If parents are thinking, 'I need a break, I'll put my 4-year-old in front of this nice harmless video,' that's one thing. But if parents are thinking, 'This is good for my 3-month-old, it will help her get ahead in the world,' that's another."VICKY RIDEOUT, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, on the proliferation of electronics for young children.