This extremely child-centered approach to childrearing is, as far as
I can tell, unique to the U.S. in the latter half of the 20th century.
Yet, I am reading an implication here that this is what's morally
right--this is how children SHOULD be reared if they are to grow into
happy, healthy adults. If we believe in cultural construction (and
perhaps not all of us do--perhaps one can emphasize learning as a
socially mediated activity without also believing that what
children learn in these socially mediated activities are cultural
constructions rather than moral truths), then I think we should
reflect seriously on how we are constructing "a happy childhood"
and the "right" way to rear children.
I assure you that David is an extremely loving, happy, secure,
cooperative, independent, and healthy child (yes, those are
cultural constructions and cultural goals--but there's an implication
here that if children are not reared in an extremely permissive
and child-centered way, then they will be somehow damaged...).
He was brought to the conference so that he could spend the weekend
with his parents rather than a babysitter, and if that meant
accommodating at times to adult activities--well, I know a child
for whom the parents WOULD have changed their plans to accommodate
the child's desire to play outside, and he is the most unpleasant
child I know. I regret that, for some people, socialization into
cultural norms seems such a painful process that they can't bring
themselves to infringe so on the child's "autonomy."
Robin