Overprotective or Under protective: Finding a Balance Between the Two

Where do you fit?  Are you constantly protecting your child from every danger or fear or do you let your child experience everything for himself?  I believe we need to strive to find a balance between the two.  Consider this example:

My younger son (age 12) was watching wrestling this evening.  Personally I hate professional wrestling.  I don't like the fighting and big egos, and it is so fake.  If I were to be overprotective, I would not let him watch it at all because it goes against some of my values.  As much as I would love for it never to be on in my house, I also risk the danger of my son obsessing about it more.  I find that the more you shelter a child from something he is interested in, the more he obsesses over it and seeks it out.  On the other hand, I could be under protective.  I could let my son watch anything he wants any time.  I could not monitor any of his television viewing figuring he will discover things on his own.  Obviously I do not agree with this extreme either.  It is our job as parents to teach children our values.  If we don't know what our children are watching, we can't discuss things they may see that are inappropriate.  For example, my son came over to me and wanted to tell me part of what happened.  I did affirm his excitement for wrestling and told him I was glad he was enjoying it.  I also let him know the reasons I did not prefer to watch it, and that the way they talk to each other is not how he should talk to others.  In this way, he is able to watch it as something he is interested in, but he knows that the behavior he sees in unacceptable in his daily life.  If I was not aware of what he was watching, we would not have been able to have that dialogue.  I know many children have televisions in their rooms, but I strongly encourage you to rethink that idea if your children have a television with the capabilities to watch any channels.  There is no telling what your children are watching when you are not in there.

In conclusion, try to find a good balance.  Let your children experience the world, but be there to guide and coach along the way.