Paranoid Parenting: Why Ignoring the Experts May Be Best for Your Child Book

Although I still support the basic premise of this book (all the fear and control around parenting is out of control), it was a disappointing read for me. The reasoning is sometimes vague, repeatedly contradicts itself, is full of repeating (I checked maybe ten times if I was reading a paragraph for the tenth time but it turns out to be mentioned for the tenth time in four pages) or leaves out any self criticism or logical reasoning. At one point Furedi mentions how sociologists cannot really objectively study society as they are a part of it, which is true, yet he does not apply this to himself. And that was only one example. As a sociologist myself I expect more, much more.

The most disturbing part was how Furedi says a lot of studies involving parenting are not really proven or too small to be taken seriously, which is true, yet he does not present a steady study of his own to prove they are all completely wrong. Somehow he is against these theories, but what he's saying is only a theory as well - and that is of course not a problem. As I said in the beginning, I still support the premise as I believe it to be largely true but this book doesn't really convince me of it.

And it's badly written: too much repeating, too vague, too formal. Books, names, studies are mentioned abundantly, but very little examples to make the theories or parenting reality come to life.

As I still believe in the premise, it pains me to say that I would not recommend to read this as it is not a fun or convincing read.