Wilderness therapy specialists aim to educate permissive parents

By Staff Writer

In recent weeks, two specialists from a wilderness therapy program gave a presentation about permissive parenting to the Independent Educational Consultants Association in Cincinnati. The program - which was called Help, My Child's Entitled! Working with Permissive Parents in the Post-Boomer Family - revealed parenting trends of this generation over the past 30 years.

For example, many post-boomer families have parents who work outside the home, try give their kids everything they did not have, approach their teens with warmth rather than firmness and want to be their child's friend.

Many people who had children after World War II have adopted a permissive style because their parents used an authoritarian method, according to the report. In addition, they may choose to go to an extreme in an effort to raise their children differently than they were raised.

According to the specialists, parents receive training in the Love and Logic approach at the wilderness program. The technique is founded on the belief that parents should be loving and empathetic, while allowing their teens to experience the consequences of their choices.