What is the Right Amount of Protection to Give?
Providing the necessary conditions for a person to flourish
“You can never protect someone. What you can do is to make them strong enough to protect themselves.” (Jordan Peterson)
Introduction
I stumbled upon this enlightening quote in one of Dr. Peterson’s YouTube videos.
Being a mother of a young child, I often find myself being overprotective.
And that has troubled me greatly. Firstly, it causes me anxiety. Secondly, it prevents my son from growing. It seems like I have bubble wrapped him to insulate him from the hardships of the world.
Some protection is good
Protection is good. It will be naive to think that our world is a fairy land that is completely safe to inhabit.
Just consider the number of cars and personal mobility devices (PMD) that may accidentally strike our children dead.
If they are blessed enough to dodge physical injury/death from PMDs, they still have to contend with peer-bullying in school. If they happen to be attractive, they are at greater risk of sexual abuse. What a perilous minefield we inhabit!
