Bubble or overprotected children have always existed, but with the pandemic the number of cases has grown, caused by isolation and fears of contagion that lead to social restrictions as a preventive framework.
Life in a bubble can lower children's social skills, affect their self-esteem, and slow down the development of personal autonomy.
After an overprotected child, there are “what we have called
helicopter parents
, who point them out to many extracurricular activities and are always on top of their children supervising everything they do and
mothers schedule
or that they control the child's activities every minute through a strict agenda that collects the schedules and organizes each day ”, says Viktoriya Vassileva Popova, a pedagogue specialized in mediation and conflict resolution.
More information
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Life in a bubble conditions the child's way of relating, “both with other people and with the environment, preventing them from adequately developing social skills.
Likewise, it can be very detrimental to the child's self-image, self-confidence or autonomy, which could translate into behaviors such as low self-esteem, insecurity, indecision or difficulty in decision-making, low tolerance for frustration and difficulties in adaptation.
On the other hand, the intensity and duration of this bubble can turn the child into an adult with Peter Pan syndrome, or an eternal child who does not want to grow up ”, adds Viktoriya Vassileva.
The difference of overprotected children before the pandemic is that “the isolation was compensated by the parents with other types of recreational, creative and even educational activities, both within the home and, although to a lesser extent, outside the home.
In many cases, it is not about isolating the children, but about having control over all areas of their lives.
When this control is carried out with a positive objective, many parents are enormously involved in all the activities of their children ”, explains the pedagogue.
What is the environment of a
bubble boy
The home of an overprotected child is a reflection of the extreme fear of their parents that something will happen to their child that puts their life at risk.
"The environment is always usually full of preventive measures against any type of incident that may occur, such as with covered corners at home so that the child does not hit the head, doors with locks so that hands are not caught, plugged outlets , no glass so it does not break and stick.
These preventions may seem normal with young children, but when they are older, they become unnecessary.
Therefore, if parents continue to maintain them, it is as a consequence of an overprotective educational style.
Other conditions of a very controlled environment would be to prevent the child from attending events with friends or family for fear of what might happen, not to eat very hard food in case he chokes or the child not to have a scooter or a bike in case falls ”, comments Ana López López, psychopedagogue and specialist in educational neuropsychology.
The pandemic has proven to be a favorable breeding ground for an overprotective educational system.
“Some parents have found the perfect excuse to stop doing certain activities, such as going to birthdays, taking the child to the park or going for a walk, it has even allowed them to do things more naturally and with less questioning, such as excessive cleaning at children for fear of germs or maintaining excessive hygiene at home.
In addition, being able to keep children quiet in front of a screen is the best ally to avoid putting their physical integrity at risk, which is the greatest fear of overprotective parents.
Therefore, they put the physical integrity, the emotional, social and psychological well-being of their children first ”, explains Ana López.
Overprotective parents with their children are often not aware of this and “need help from someone close to open their eyes.
The signs that may indicate that parents overprotect their children include attitudes and behaviors of the child, such as being more worried than usual for a child of his age about things such as falling if he runs, being very fearful, not have initiative, be insecure and have low self-esteem.
If these small children were always listening be
careful that you are going to fall
;
Be careful that you are going to throw it away
;
Be careful that you are going to hurt yourself,
when they are older, every time they want to have initiative and do something, they will do it out of fear of what might happen;
from prevention, because they have been taught to face things like that, with fear ”, concludes the specialist in educational neuropsychology Ana López.
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