Bubble wrap, safe-spaces and non-resilient parenting. Are we just too sheltered today?
A quick flashback to suburban Australia in the 1970’s & 1980s reveals a very different experience of childhood. Even as late as the 1990s it was not uncommon to see children playing unsupervised in the street and being tasked with significant responsibility outside of the home. For most children the experience of childhood was marked by play with peers, adventures and growing independence.
Fast forward to today and the experience of childhood has dramatically changed. The world feels a much more dangerous place. Children today are far more likely to play on their devices than to meet to play with their peers. A decrease of at least 50% in the space of a generation! Because of our fears, today children are rarely left to play without adult supervision prior to leaving the home. All the while we’re more interconnected but we feel far more fragile.
How did we get here? Are we just too sheltered today? And does the Bible have anything to help us navigate this complex new world?
This episode is a deep dive into God’s sovereign purposes for our weaknesses and how it can help us to grow as a non-anxious presence in the lives of our children.
Got questions you’d like the team to answer? Email us at imperfect@sovgrace.org.au
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Timestamps:
Jonathan Haidt, ‘Why modern America creates fragile children’ – (1:30)
Preparing kids for the road not the road for kids – (4:56)
The biblical embrace of weakness and suffering – (15:20)
Getting Practical. Growing as non-anxious parents – (44:06)
Recommended Reading:
Weakness is the Way by J.I. Packer
Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Tim Keller
A non-anxious presence by Mark Sayers
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt – A secular psychologist with some useful thoughts on how changes in culture and technology are making children more fragile.
Credits:
Jonathan Haidt, ‘Why modern America creates fragile children.’ https://youtu.be/QvrMNDv6iYU?si=KRiSUi0uhoQYtVSM
Hosted by Brendan Willis
With Dave & Emma Taylor
Edited by Celine Chiu
Podcast Theme: The Lord Almighty Reigns (Psalm 93) – Accompaniment Track. Copyright Sovereign Grace Music.
A podcast of Sovereign Grace Church, Wahroonga.
Visit: sovgrace.org.au
