Senior, Jennifer. “For parents, happiness is a very high bar.” Online video clip. Ted Talks.Ted. March 2014. Web. 5 November 2014.
Jennifer Senior a mother of a six years talks about how there
are no rules or guidelines on what it means to be a good parent to your
children. With so many parenting books out there it becomes overwhelming to
know what kind of parent to be. This uncertainty puts parents under a lot of
stress and anxiety. Jennifer compares parenting to a “crisis.” Though this term
may seem like an over exaggeration studies show that people would rather
interact with all others rather than their kids. This isn’t due to the fact
that parents don’t like their children, it’s because parenting has become a
complex job. Jennifer states the question “what is parenting?” and this
question has no definite answer because parenting has no norms. Parents can
agree that all they want is their child to be happy, but as we know happiness
is something that cannot be achieved as a goal. Jennifer states that happiness
can be a byproduct of other achievements but to have happiness as a goal can
cause many anxieties not only on the parent but on the child as well. Parents always
want what’s best for their kids. Each generation of parents wants better for
their children than what they had or even what their parents had. That is what
makes parenting so hard. These challenges that parents face can become very overwhelming
especially considering that in most middle class households both parents work. Jennifer mentions how Sesame Street has
changed over the years because “it is not suitable for children” warning labels
and caveats are inputted into older versions of Sesame Street because most
parents now days shield their children do to the amount of anxiety they feel to
protect their kids. Though parenting can be a wonderful experience Jennifer
shows that parents do face common challenges.
Video can be found at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_senior_for_parents_happiness_is_a_very_high_bar#t-833887
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