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Ban TV for Children Under Three Years Old? Not In This House
Ban TV for children under three years old – every couple of years a new ‘study’ is released calling for banning of TV for young children. This one was released by Psychologist Dr Aric Sigman. Mumsnet Bloggers’ Network asked, ‘Are parents being demonised?’ The problem with making such a statement is that it immediately puts parents on the defensive, and that it sadly does not reach the parents of the children who are watching TV because their parents cannot be bothered interacting with them. I am not being snobby, but lets be honest – the kids that are plonked in front of Cbeebies all day every day are unlikely to…
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Protect Your Children – The Danger of Stranger Danger
This is a post that I have been meaning to write for quite some time. For some readers, this post will be distressing or upsetting – Trigger Warning for discussion of abuse and abusers. I am reminded of it every time I read about the angst that many parents have, that their child will be abducted or abused. Often this comes up at times when there has been a high profile case in the newspapers. The worry is understandable, we all want to protect our child from harm. First, it is important to understand the risks. Stranger Danger The big fear is often “Stranger Danger” – that…
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Home Alone – Bringing up independent and confident children
There was a shocking story in the news this week – about a woman who left her 14 year old in charge of her 3 year old while she popped out for 30 minutes. There was no “incident” but she was cautioned for “cruelty” and automatically banned from working with children younger than 10 years old or vulnerable adults. The woman lost her job as a nurse, she was basically unemployable in her field. Last week she had the ban lifted. This is not an isolated case. As reported in the Sunday Times (behind the Paywall), it is an example of the problems being caused by rulings of the Independant Safeguarding…
