Yes, leashes on children, I'm for them. Or I should say, I don't think they are horrible. I'm not advocating that we keep children leashed up out back until they are 18 years old. But they seem super practical to me and a great thing for safety.
I had a leash, and I loved it, it meant I could walk without having my parents run after me every three seconds before I got to the street. And I walked young, at 10 months. You can't explain to a 10-month-old that the street is dangerous and they should stay out of it. Well, you can try, but chances are a 10-month-old that has just learned to walk is way more interested in practicing this new skill than paying attention to where traffic is.
Also, I have trouble keeping track of my ADULT friends and family members in a crowded place. I can't imagine how hard it would be to keep track of a rambunctious toddler who doesn't want to be held in a crowded place. To me, a leash is much saner than strapping a screaming kid into a stroller because he won't stay near you.
I see it as either constantly having to be running after my kid, telling him no, getting stressed out, possibly losing him, or having a leash sometimes. I've never seen a kid angry that he was on a leash, but I've seen plenty angry at being in strollers, or strapped into car seats that aren't in the car. And I've seen tons of parents anxiously running after their children. You aren't a bad parent because you lost sight of your kids for a minute, kids run and parents have other things on their minds. I'm a super distractable person; that's not going to change when I have a kid.
Obviously kids on leashes shouldn't be ignored, but I don't think I've ever witnessed this. And leashes might make sense for some kids and not for others. I guess I assume I'm going to have an energetic, boundary-testing, on-the-go kid. I could end up with a calm one that has no problem holding my hand or spending hours in a stroller. But I walked at TEN MONTHS and I'm a boundary-pushing kind of person.
I just don't quite get what is so horrible about a leash on a toddler. We confine kids all the time, in cribs, play pens, strollers, car seats, swings, high chairs, baby gates... if anything a leash is less confining than these things, allowing the kids to move around in proximity to the adult. I'm way more freaked out about play pens and swings and even pacifiers than I am about leashes. A leash to me equals a nicely controlled freedom for a young child, swings and pacifiers feel like plastic parent-replacements. I hate it when a baby is crying and the parent shoves a pacifier in its mouth. I feel like baby's real need is being ignored. But, I guess if pacifiers work for you, and swings work for you, then go ahead a use them, just please don't judge me when I have my kid on a leash in a crowded mall because he's much happier walking on his own than being strapped to something plastic.
I worked at the MN state fair one summer and one of the main things I took away was that most people who put their kids on leashes totally suck. I have no doubt that if you were willing to be conscientious about it, I wouldn't think you were torturing your child. But I have seen kids start tantruming, on the ground, and parents just drag them along face down, with the leash. In my opinion, leashes enable abusive parenting.
ReplyDeleteok, then be anti sucky abusive parents, don't blame it on the leash.
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