The other day, I was listening to the late George Carlin’s final album, It’s Bad for Ya. On it, there’s a bit entitled “Today’s Professional Parents.” As with most things, Carlin was right on the money; sure, he was being funny, but he was also correct in how ridiculous modern parents are when it comes to overprotecting their children. One of my favorite quotes:

Even the simple act of playing has been taken away, and put on Mommy’s schedule in the form of “play dates.” Something that should be spontaneous and free is now being rigidly planned.

You never see kids just going outside and having fun anymore. Their folks either keep them trapped in the backyard under permanent guard (nothing wrong with safety, but this is ridiculous!), or dump them in front of the TV and video games. And we wonder why so many children are obese? Not “fat”…obese, as in disgustingly overweight. I don’t know where this paranoia comes from (maybe the news media’s sensationalization of “sexual predators”?), but it’s gotta stop.

Even in school, where a kid should be balancing their education with downtime and play, it’s out of control. If a kid scrapes a knee during recess, what happens? The parents end up suing the school. It’s no surprise that our educational system is going down the shitter; all of these frivolous lawsuits are draining coffers dry. (Stupid lawsuits are definitely something I’ll have to expound upon in a future post.)

For fuck’s sake, you uptight parents, just leave the damn kids alone once in a while, and let them enjoy their childhood! They don’t have a lot of time to themselves before they end up becoming bitter adults like the rest of us.