There is a vast difference though between taking an interest and fussing.
Parents storming into schools is commonplace now, and most of the time over something very trivial.
I see a lot of over anxious parenting going on, but don't know why this is so.

miley health professionals who have reason to suspect child abuse have a duty to raise such concerns with appropriate child protection officers - they would be considered negligent if they did not.
RQ Are you from Cheshire? I have never heard anyone else use the word 'nesh'. It was a frequently-levelled accusation in our house

I agree annodomini.

And, BTW, I am so glad that a man who slapped a poor child with toothache got his rightful comeuppance! I fact, I think £300 was cheap.

Really! how many young parents nowadays have the time to make a fuss over all aspects of their children's lives? I know that my DC and their partners all have demanding jobs and still make time to be with their children, advising about homework (as mine did and I did) and ferrying them around to activities like cubs, scouts, swimming, am dram etc. I don't call this involvement in children's lives 'fussing'. Why have children if you can't take an interest?

i remember a father slapping his child at dentist,she had toothache,,receptionist promptly reported him to social services..he was fined 3oo pounds,,we are all so pc now,,frightened to say boo to a ghost

Despite ensuring that I was warm, well-fed, healthy and happy, I don't think my DP were 'helicopter' parents, anxiously fussing over every aspect of my life like some of today's parents.

Eloethan I remember being admonished about going to bed or out with wet hair - 'You'll catch your death of cold' was one of DM's oft-used expressions. Likewise for not wearing a vest.
Every morning out came the Californian Syrup of Figs and cod liver oil and malt - no fuss, though, it was just routine.

I do remember moaning about iced up windows and getting dressed under the bedclothes, sitting on the hearth and being told I was 'nesh'.
If I made a fuss about anything I was told not to be 'so mardy'.

I remember bottles of disinfectants and in particular Dettol as well as lots of vigorous scrubbing of surfaces, baths etc with Vim, so perhaps a precursor of today's cleaning sprays which are so essential to kill 99.9% of germs!

Disagree jinglbellsfrocks. Looked like a compliment to me.

I agree with you that the journalism in the article is lazy. But it's a journalist's job to stimulate debate: Bel Mooney has achieved that, it seems. As far as suggesting that certain minority groups should "put up and shut up" she has every right to say whatever she likes (within limits) and we, as readers, have every right to agree or disagree (within limits).

The fact that we are at liberty to debate issues in a reasonable way is a mark of civilised society. We can't advocate free speech on one hand and then chuck our toys out of the pram when we hear something we don't like!

I agree that she perhaps should not comment on issues of which she has little knowledge or understanding but I would absolutely defend her right to voice her opinion, no matter how daft or ill-informed that opinion may be.

I thought for an experienced journalist this blog was a mish mash of random ideas. I can't imagine how her smug, judgmental words would help anyone through anything.

I would imagine the vast majority of parents are very happy that their children have opportunities that they perhaps did not have, such as going to university. But is it so difficult to understand that that happiness at a young person striking out on their own can also be tinged with sadness and perhaps some anxiety? Victoria8 you state you grew tired of the constant demands of your daughter/son and being glad when she/he left. Some people have had less fractious relationships with their children and feel differently from you. That does not mean they need to "get a life".

I would agree that being over-protective of one's children may make it more difficult for them to deal with the practical and emotional challenges of life but I don't see it as a particularly modern phenomenon. My mum used to be anxious about all sorts of things: using public transport, using escalators at stations, etc. - and to some extent she transferred that lack of confidence to me. Add to that: going out/going to bed with damp hair - "you'll get a chill", wearing damp underclothes - "you'll get rheumatism", sitting on toilet seats in public lavatories - "you'll get a disease", etc. etc. And yet I could wander off for the whole day on my own or with friends without there being the least worry. Everybody parents differently and to assume that there is some sort of "ideal" model of parenting is, I think, unrealistic.

I don't recall moaning as a child because we had no central heating or indeed any heating at all upstairs. But I feel that's because I didn't know any different. I feel quite sure that if Bel Mooney had to put up with iced-up windows and a freezing cold house now, she would do plenty of moaning. As for never getting a cold, I recall myself and children at school constantly bunged up with colds, suffering with bronchitis, styes and chilblains.

I do agree that there is far too much anxiety about "germs" but to put this down to "fussy" parenting is unfair. These fears have been generated by marketing campaigns for companies selling cleaning products.

Bel Mooney then veers off the topic of parenting and onto one that is not at all cut and dried. She makes some disparaging remarks about what she considers to be the unwarranted sensitivities that she believes certain "minority groups" exhibit. My feeling is that unless she has been subjected to behaviour or attitudes that have upset or disadvantaged her - such as has happened with, for instance, homosexual, transgender, black people, etc. - she has no right to suggest that people who have should "put up and shut up".

Being interested in everything that happens at school - I don't have any experience of this yet as my DGD is too young.
My DD, tho, has told me of some appalling attitudes and actions of her teachers, at both primary and secondary school. At the time, she didn't say anything, as she had the feeling that parents already knew all about what happened at school. A bit of probing and then criticism of her teachers would have been in order, I think, and I am sorry that we took the usual attitude of "it'll all be fine".

MamaCaz I don't think anyone is saying today's parents care more than parents of previous generations.

I'd create merry hell if nothing can be done. The school must have some responsibility for the ensuring the format of the exam is fit for purpose. After all the subject was Geography not IT.

My post about playing outside and my parents not knowing what I was up to was more about the freedom we had and not intending to be critical of today's parents. The trust issue is a society wide problem and down to the changes in how news and information is circulated. That said I think today's teachers have a difficult time with a lot of parents. The attitudes of some parents are simply not reasonable and it's getting to the point where something has to be done about making it more clear where the lines of responsibilities lie between teachers and parents.

I've been mulling over what Jinglebellsfrocks said, but still can't agree that increased involvement in the minutiae of a child's life makes someone a better parent.

To me, this overwhelming desire to know every detail of a child's day at school (to pick just one example) says more about the parents' neediness than it does about concern for the child. From the point of view of the child's welfare and development, surely it's much more important to be there to listen if they do want to tell you about their day, and to look out for signs that something might be troubling them and need further probing, rather than persist in this silly and usually unproductive interrogation of their day!

I certainly don't buy into the idea that modern parents care more about their children than previous generations of parents did.
Current approaches to parenthood seem to be very different from anything that's gone before - natural I suppose given the advent and influence of the Internet and social media, but is there any real evidence anywhere that suggests that this makes for better parenting? There might be, but I haven't seen any.

Regarding what happened to AnnieGran's DGS, I don't think anyone is going to suggest for one moment that he or his parents should just suck it up and get a life. It's not the same thing. It's a real and potentially very serious problem. Like all such problems, it requires action, and should most certainly not be taken lying down.
That said, once such problems have been tackled, successfully or otherwise, there surely must come a point in the future where it would be far healthier to let it go if at all possible ...

Just my humble opinion, of course.

There's no way he'd have been advised not to save his work by a proper teacher. Kick up a stink, anniegran. Definitely a cock-up.

It doesn't sound like "not allowed" as a policy to me It sounds like a cock-up.

I'm amazed he was not allowed to save his work, Anniegran. When I was teaching we must have sounded like broken records imploring students to remember to save their work.

If it was an exam or coursework how would it be marked if not saved?

You are justified in kicking up a fuss especially if it has happened to other students as well.

That's terrible, Anniegran! No saving? How ridiculous is that? And how demoralising for the poor boy having done the work but with nothing to show for it. I hope a solution can be found.

I think this generation of parents, because of their involvement in their children's lives, are quite simply, much better than we were.

You only have to read Mumsnet to see how much they care about their children.

Victoria08 you can take your "get a life" comment and stick it where the sun don't shine. And I hope it hurts.

No! You shouldn't. Kick up one helluva fuss!!!

So, now the discussion has reached education and that it is good to ignore any old upsetting thing that happens?

My 15 year old grandson is in a school which became an Academy a year ago and has switched to a new, probably cheaper, IT provider.

Grandson did his first GCSE, geography, last week, on a school computer, no printing out allowed, no saving allowed, and when he clicked it through it disappeared. No copies anywhere and the IT man at the school couldn't help. No, evidently he can't do the exam again. Zero mark expected. We have since heard this has happened before to other students.

So are we going to behave like Doris Day and say never mind, worse things happen at sea? You bet your life we are not.

I reckon I know what Minibags's will say before I've seen it.

I honestly can't remember one example of my parents visiting my schools to check on how I was getting on.
Apart from once when I was about 10 and got into trouble about something
They trusted the teachers and let them get on with their job.
Our eldest daughter teaches Biology etc in a "public" school and parents often check up and complain ie blame her if their child doesn't get a good exam result. Partly because they're paying, I suppose.