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Bringing Up Britain

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Helping families make sense of one big parenting question.

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Bringing Up Britain: Series 4

Bringing Up Britain: Series 4: Episode 4: Butting Out and Letting Go

Episode 4

Episode 4: Butting Out and Letting Go

Series 4

Butting Out and Letting Go

BBC Radio 4 - Bringing Up Britain, Series 4, Butting Out and Letting Go

Mariella Frostrup and guests on fostering independence in children.

Mariella Frostrup and guests discuss fostering independence in children and teens. How do parents do it and what are the consequences if they don't?

In the first few months parents control their children's lives but even weaning and potty training could be said to be the first steps towards independence. From then on the debates about when a child can cycle to school go to a sleep-over or play out with friends are a daily occurrence. But, a failure to foster true independence even in young children is key to debates being had now about whether young people are coping at university and work and with life in general. 

Are we raising a generation unable to deal practically and emotionally with adult life after years of parental indulgence and funding? As a parent, getting involved in playground disputes, obsessively supervising play and, later, University and careers can sometimes seem the responsible and caring thing to do, but is it really? 

The recession and rising house prices might mean that adult children increasingly come back home or never leave. So, how do parents and adult children live together and what might we lose or gain if living with Mum and Dad becomes inevitable? 

With Dr Terri Apter, author of 'The Myth of Maturity', the Guardian journalist Deborah Orr who writes about the family and society, Dr Helene Guldberg, author of 'Reclaiming Childhood: Freedom and Play in an Age of Fear' and Matt Whyman, who offers advice to young people about how to manage their parents via the advice web-site TheSite.org. 

Producer: Erin Riley.

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Mariella Frostrup hosts a debate about parenting with families, experts and policy-makers

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Episode 4: Butting Out and Letting Go

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