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By Susan, February 2, 2010

I have happily and haphazardly been spreading parenting propaganda for 16 years. I’ve been doing this not as a writer, but as a parent. I’ve spent years glibly citing studies which suit my agenda.
I recently read this article about a study (published in the journal Sleep) titled, “Earlier Parental Set Bedtimes as a Protective Factor Against Depression and Suicidal Ideation.”
Naturally, I told my teenager about the study, which focused on adolescents. As someone who likes to stay up late on weekends, I thought he’d argue. He simply said, “Most of these studies you tell me about are obvious.”
True, I thought. Today I saw a press release about a study titled: “Teens who drink with parents may still develop alcohol problems.” That makes sense.
I still cite such “science” when it suits me, though. At age 3, they’d generally believe me when I’d say, “You’ll poke your eye out” or “That will give you a case of diarrhea you’ll never forget.” The older my kids get, the more reinforcements I have to bring in. They want to “pshaw” my explanations of the values of turning in early, eating breakfast, wearing jackets, etc. Sometimes they even argue against my sources, my statistics and my “facts.”
We all know many study results can be manipulated, misinterpreted, etc., so I’ve always taught my kids to be skeptical and not automatically believe everything they hear or read. As they age, they’ve begun to ask me to identify my sources. I’m happy they do it. I suppose I just assumed I’d be the exception. Share this Post