I remember seeing someone make an argument for leashes, and it stuck with me. Forgive me that I don’t remember the source, so this is paraphrasing at best.
First, you must throw out all of your thoughts and mental associations with the leash. You must consider this scenario on its own. It has nothing to do with pets, or anything like that. This is about parenting, and only parenting.
You might see a leash as degrading. And to an adult, or an older child, that would certainly be the case. But these are typically only used on small children who have not yet developed that concept. IOW, the child does not mind the leash, aside from wanting to go where the leash won’t allow.
You might think that the child’s curiosity is being limited. Kids need to run and be free! But if there were no leash, that wouldn’t be the case. Instead of a leash, a hyper-vigilant parent would be enforcing similar boundaries. In fact, most parents would be enforcing stricter boundaries- if you need to make sure Junior doesn’t run away, you might not let them walk anywhere. The simplest form is requiring them to hold your hand, which is like an even shorter leash.
Since they can’t just run away, you can even use a long leash. That allows them to run and explore and jump around, and have significantly greater freedoms, all because the string keeps them near enough. They might still fall and get hurt, but that’s part of growing up. And yes, at a certain point, they will need to learn impulse control to stay nearby without a leash. This doesn’t mean a leash is bad, only that it’s not for every circumstance and needs to be retired at some point.
Now, after all of the above, can you articulate why a leash is always bad? Keeping in mind the child doesn’t mind.
Yep. I had one who would never stray far and didn’t want to cross the road without my say so until they were about 10. The other as soon as they were able to walk/run would high tail it to the nearest roadway the second your gaze wavered. Trying to convince my MIL that we weren’t abusive but just trying to keep our child alive until they knew better and could be reasoned with, was an ordeal. And holding their hand wasn’t much of an option because they would pull hard enough to dislocate their elbow. They also hated strollers or backpacks so that was not a viable option.
I read the OP as if they’re highlighting a double standard, rather than positing that OP themselves think they’re bad. “Can you articulate why a leash is always bad” seems improper if I understand OP correctly.
I remember seeing someone make an argument for leashes, and it stuck with me. Forgive me that I don’t remember the source, so this is paraphrasing at best.
First, you must throw out all of your thoughts and mental associations with the leash. You must consider this scenario on its own. It has nothing to do with pets, or anything like that. This is about parenting, and only parenting.
You might see a leash as degrading. And to an adult, or an older child, that would certainly be the case. But these are typically only used on small children who have not yet developed that concept. IOW, the child does not mind the leash, aside from wanting to go where the leash won’t allow.
You might think that the child’s curiosity is being limited. Kids need to run and be free! But if there were no leash, that wouldn’t be the case. Instead of a leash, a hyper-vigilant parent would be enforcing similar boundaries. In fact, most parents would be enforcing stricter boundaries- if you need to make sure Junior doesn’t run away, you might not let them walk anywhere. The simplest form is requiring them to hold your hand, which is like an even shorter leash.
Since they can’t just run away, you can even use a long leash. That allows them to run and explore and jump around, and have significantly greater freedoms, all because the string keeps them near enough. They might still fall and get hurt, but that’s part of growing up. And yes, at a certain point, they will need to learn impulse control to stay nearby without a leash. This doesn’t mean a leash is bad, only that it’s not for every circumstance and needs to be retired at some point.
Now, after all of the above, can you articulate why a leash is always bad? Keeping in mind the child doesn’t mind.
Anyone against this has never been the parent of a rambunctious, suicidal toddler. Those little buggers are fast and deadly curious.
Yep. I had one who would never stray far and didn’t want to cross the road without my say so until they were about 10. The other as soon as they were able to walk/run would high tail it to the nearest roadway the second your gaze wavered. Trying to convince my MIL that we weren’t abusive but just trying to keep our child alive until they knew better and could be reasoned with, was an ordeal. And holding their hand wasn’t much of an option because they would pull hard enough to dislocate their elbow. They also hated strollers or backpacks so that was not a viable option.
I read the OP as if they’re highlighting a double standard, rather than positing that OP themselves think they’re bad. “Can you articulate why a leash is always bad” seems improper if I understand OP correctly.
I could be wrong :P