This phenomenon, while seemingly innocuous, reveals a deeper societal shift. The rise of social media has undoubtedly played a significant role in this shift. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have become breeding grounds for both positive and negative conversations about children.
This is a prime example of how these attitudes can manifest in real-world situations. The summary provided focuses on the negative attitudes and behaviors that can arise from a perceived lack of empathy. It highlights the potential for these attitudes to escalate into conflict and even violence.
Mariah’s fear of flying is rooted in a traumatic childhood experience. She was a child when her father, who was a pilot, died in a plane crash. This event left her with a deep-seated fear of flying, which she has carried with her throughout her life. Mariah’s fear of flying is not just a personal fear, but also a societal fear.
Some are reacting to conservative rhetoric Adults griping about kids intruding on their comfort isn’t a new phenomenon. In 2000, Elinor Burkett wrote about child-free adults who had grown to resent the public benefits and workplace flexibility afforded to parents in “The Baby Boon: How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless.” One person quoted in the book likened kids in the office to a “petting zoo” and described having children as “squirting out spawn.” That same year, journalist Lisa Belkin explored the tension between people who have children and people who don’t in a New York Times Magazine article titled “Your Kids Are Their Problem.” One man featured in the piece explicitly sought to live in a neighborhood not “infested” with children; another called his friends with kids “child-burdened.” The story also noted countless childfree sites whose names for children included “brats,” “anklebiters” and “crib lizards.”
The summary provided is a concise introduction to the topic. It sets the stage for a deeper exploration of the phenomenon of openly hostile attitudes toward children. Here’s a detailed and comprehensive text based on the summary:
**The Rise of Hostility Towards Children in the Digital Age**
Anastasia Berg, in her book “What Are Children For?”, argues that the internet has played a significant role in normalizing and amplifying openly hostile attitudes towards children.
1. **Online Disdain for Kids:** This refers to the negativity and criticism directed towards children online, often in the context of social media. 2. **Performative Response:** This refers to the act of expressing disapproval or negativity without genuine intention or effect.
Smith, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, has studied this phenomenon. She found that people who are more prone to negative emotions, such as anxiety, depression, or anger, are more likely to find children irritating. This is because these individuals tend to focus on the negative aspects of situations, and they may be more sensitive to the demands and behaviors of children.
The lack of empathy that some young people have for children has a lot to do with where and how they live, says June Carbone, a law professor and co-author of the recent book “Fair Shake: Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy.” For decades, college-educated, upper middle class adults have moved into cities for better jobs and the kind of lifestyle found in dense urban areas: shops, restaurants and nightlife. Those with children, meanwhile, tend to settle in suburbs where housing is more affordable and spacious. The result is a segregation of childless adults and parents, meaning that many people who don’t have kids can feasibly go about life without having to interact with children in any significant way, Carbone says. At the same time, parents often stop socializing with their childless friends in favor of other parents, deepening the distance between the two groups.
“It’s not just about the kids anymore. It’s about the parents, the grandparents, the whole family.”
This statement highlights the growing concern about the impact of social media on families and the increasing awareness of its potential negative effects.
“A lot of us are still raised to think children should be seen and not heard,” Williams says. “So when you see children who are just loud and they’re able to be themselves, it’s jarring to people.” Lauren Kavan, a mother to a 4-year-old and a 10-month-old in Nebraska, has felt this acutely. She’s used to getting stares when she boards a plane with her kids — once while at a pool, someone even asked if her giggling daughter could quiet down. The online rhetoric and judgment from other adults takes a toll on her parenting, she says. If her daughter starts crying or having a tantrum in public, Kavan tries however she can to stop her so as not to cause a scene.
“It makes me feel bad for my kids,” she says. “I’m not allowing her to regulate her emotions properly because I’ll say ‘Shhh, you can’t be doing this right now.’” What these attitudes say about us Underlying all of this perceived antipathy to kids is a broader uncertainty in some liberal circles about the role of children in our lives, according to Berg. Many Millennials and Zoomers are unsure about having children for a host of reasons, per Berg and Wiseman’s research: Because they feel they can’t ably provide for them, because of how it might affect their careers and personal lives, because they worry about the planet or about the kind of world their kids would grow up in.
However, there’s a growing trend of societal pressure on parents, particularly mothers, to conform to specific ideals and expectations. This pressure is often rooted in societal norms and cultural beliefs. It can manifest in various ways, from the constant comparison with other parents on social media to the judgmental glances from strangers.
Animosity toward children also reflects the American mindset around parenting, says Jessica Calarco, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of “Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net.” Parenting in the US is treated as an individual undertaking, she notes, as opposed to countries whose economic and social policies treat the wellbeing of children as a collective responsibility. “If you make this choice to have children, you should be fully responsible for taking care of them, for making sure their needs are met and making sure they don’t infringe on others in the process, too,” she says of US parenting attitudes.
* Children are not a personal lifestyle choice. * Children are a necessary component of a healthy society. * Society’s perception of children as a personal choice can lead to harmful consequences.
And when that happens, the cycle of complaints about kids might well start over again. The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
