Paranoid Parenting: Why Ignoring the Experts May Be Best for Your Child - Softcover

Furedi, Frank

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184706521X ISBN 13: 9781847065216

Publisher: Continuum, 2008

Synopsis

Paranoid Parenting is an important book that shows how parental fears have been stoked and families harmed as a consequence. It ought to be read by every sensible individual interested in regaining a sane viewpoint that advances children's well-being. It seems that every day there is a warning about your children: everything from cots, babysitters, schools, supermarkets and public parks pose a danger. We are told that children's health, safety and welfare and constantly at risk. Based on sociological research as well as dozens of interviews, this book will bolster your confidence in your own judgements and enable you to bring up self-assured, imaginative, capable children. If you want to understand why adults act like children and children act like adults -- in short, if you want to understand why raising children today is harder than ever before -- read this book.

About this title

About the Author

Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is the author of numerous books including Culture of Fear, Invitation to Terror and Paranoid Parenting, all published by Continuum.

From Publishers Weekly

A sociologist at the University of Kent, author (The Culture of Fear), and father of a six-year-old, Furedi doesn't tout his Ph.D. on his book jacket, perhaps to distance himself from the "experts" he hopes to topple here. Furedi argues that parents are not just worried but downright paranoid, due, in part, to a glut of much-publicized expert advice. In a well-constructed diatribe, Furedi outlines how parents have become victims of scare tactics about everything from breast vs. bottle to whether to let their kids play outside. Furedi first takes readers through a series of topics, ranging from pedophiles to co-sleeping, only to debunk that very climate of fear and anxiety that he accuses others of fueling. Lashing out at such venerable experts as Penelope Leach, Benjamin Spock and others, Furedi notes that experts often disagree, contradict themselves and shift their advice in reaction to the moral and cultural attitudes of the time. Claiming that society has become "child-obsessed rather than child-centered" Furedi calls for a return to reliance on parents' own instincts, and for the re-establishment of adult trust and collaboration in caring for children. Though prone to occasional bouts of exaggeration, Furedi's text is unsettling and insightful, and contemporary parents are sure to recognize themselves in these pages. Parents weary of glancing over their shoulders every time they fill a baby's bottle or head for the park will find this a welcome departure. "Parents are no more ignorant than the experts," Furedi concludes. His overriding message parents know best is one many will be happy to heed.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Continuum
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 184706521X
• ISBN 13: 9781847065216
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240