Why Do We Judge Parents Harshly ... And Is It Right To Do So?

Perhaps the easiest way to make someone angry is to criticize their parenting. Despite this truth, most parents feel criticized all the time. There was an interview I read with author Priya Fielding-Singh about food inequality that asked an interesting question: "why is there so much judgement about how we feed our kids?" She explored how she came to understand that how people perceived her daughter's body "was feedback about [her] parenting." The article was a reminder that society can be harsh and unfair when judging parents.

Just a day later, though, I was conflicted as I read the disturbing story of the 15-year-old school shooter who killed three students even after exhibiting troubling warning signs. In that case, the parents bought the shooter a gun and seem (based on current evidence) to have enabled the violence by failing to get him help and minimizing the danger. Now, for the first time, parents are being charged for the deaths alongside the shooter and are being vilified in the media. And I think they deserve it. I hope they do go to jail and that it sends a message to all other parents to take violent thoughts more seriously and keep guns away from children.

Is it wrong to judge parents so harshly? Perhaps not in some cases.

Infographic image source: Zero To Three