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“Supernanny” Jo Frost is laying down some stone-cold truths.
The 55-year-old TV personality announced that parents are all but hobbling their children with helpfulness.
“I’m going to say something that might make you uncomfortable, so sit tight,” Frost said in a Facebook video.
“We are slowly disabling our children,” she mic-dropped.
The British reality star explained that she works with families every day and has noticed a disturbing pattern emerge: children who are capable but not being taught.
“We’re keeping children in strollers who should be walking, climbing, and building strength,” she said.
“We’ve got four-year-olds still using dummies when they were only ever meant to be a short-term aid,” she added. (For the uninitiated, “dummies” is a British term for pacifiers.)
She continued her list, citing various other age-appropriate responsibilities that children are increasingly failing to meet.
“Seven-year-olds who can’t brush their teeth properly without an electric toothbrush. Eight-year-olds who can’t sit at a table and use a knife and fork. Nine-year-olds who don’t understand bathroom hygiene.”
“I find myself asking, when did we stop teaching these life skills?” Frost lamented.
She urged the parents in question not to get defensive but to be proactive.
“I understand modern life is busy, but this isn’t about time; it’s about intention. Because every time we step in and do it for them or avoid teaching because it’s slower, messier, or inconvenient, we take away an opportunity for them to become capable, and children want to feel capable.”
She recommended a return to basics, such as teaching bike riding with support, then without.
Frost also advocated for the removal of pacifiers when the aid is no longer needed and teaching oral hygiene without an electric toothbrush.
Other suggestions included taking the time to teach table manners.
“We guide, we repeat, we expect. Not perfectly, consistently. Because independence isn’t something that just happens instantaneously. It’s taught parents, and if we don’t teach it, we can’t be surprised when it’s missing.”
The comments section was flooded with parents and teachers who heartily agree with Frost’s hot take.
“The biggest disservice we can do our kids is to underestimate them. I’m talking about not only what they can do physically but also behavior-wise,” said one commentator.
Another blamed the erosion of childhood skill-building on increased screen time: “Parents are not present with their children. Hate watching families who don’t communicate because they are focused on their phones, iPads, etc.”
One 80-year-old chalked up the learning deficit to careless caretakers.
“Today’s young parents are just plain LAZIER. They both work, come home, cook, and feel that they are too tired to be bothered.”
Another added that when it comes to parenting, the adage “you reap what you sow” is paramount.
“Whatever we can’t stand about our children is what we see in the mirror. We can improve it; it’s just a choice.”
An additional commentator agreed, but served her opinion with a side of parental compassion, saying, “This is such an important message as parents, it’s hard not to do everything for our kids, but teaching them life skills is crucial for their future.”
“It’s about finding that balance and giving them the opportunity to learn and grow. It’s amazing to see them become confident and independent individuals.”
Experts have previously extolled the virtues of Gen X parenting, an approach to raising children that veers more towards glider than helicopter.
“Unlike the Boomers, who went hard on the discipline, or the Millennials, who researched parenting like it was a PhD, we Gen Xers took a more balanced approach. We weren’t hovering. We were watching from a distance, ready to swoop in if someone was bleeding or about to microwave a fork,” Rebel Wylie maintained in an op-ed from last year.
“We’ve always known when to let our kids figure things out and when to step in.”
Last year, Frost revealed she’d been diagnosed with anaphylaxis in an Instagram post. According to the Mayo Clinic, anaphylaxis is “a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction” that “can occur within seconds or minutes of exposure to something you’re allergic to.”
The star of “Supernanny UK” stated that she’s “unapologetic” for her medical condition, adding, “I did not ask for it, and it does not define who I am and the impact that I make in the world daily.”
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