Hippies have notoriously been fairly liberal with their lifestyles. I’m not talking about the groovy, flower-powered Halloween costume that might be coming to mind. I’m talking about the vegetarian, barefoot, and holistic hippies. Let the record show that I do respect the lifestyle. If I had the motivation (and ability to give up cheeseburgers), I’d probably try to live similarly. It’s a great thing to be conscious of the environment and to fight for peace. Yet, it is still an extreme way of life. To commit so faithfully to rejecting certain normalities is truly radical.
However, to each their own; if someone is committed enough to a cause, then so be it. But when this extremist lifestyle is pushed onto their children is where my issue lies. The crunchy aesthetic is more abusive than holistic. I’ve seen numerous videos of self-proclaimed ‘hippie’ or ‘crunchy’ parents, filming their kids walking around stores without shoes on and already looking like they have a tanning bed addiction, all whilst eating organic and non-sugar ‘ice cream’.
Diet
What happened to letting kids be kids?
I guarantee 90% of these parents used to scarf down Halloween candy, yet god forbid their child eat a Snickers bar. Why is it that these children are being subjected to such extreme ways of living, which they most likely have no opinion on? These parents are so worried about their children ingesting something that might not be 100% healthy that they are also causing their children to miss out on other important things, like being able to participate and share things with other children. Is it not a sad thought to picture your child having to eat their own ‘special’ dessert while all the other children eat delectable treats? Newsflash: everyone claiming how terrible processed foods are spent their childhood scarfing down red 40 and processed sugars. It’s a good thing to be conscious of what your children are eating, but the extreme side of that leaves out more important things, like children having fun and feeling included. Fine, sneak veggies into your children’s pasta, don’t keep fruit roll-ups in your house if that’s what you wish, but stop taking it too far and ostracizing your children for fear of refined sugars.
Of course, this ingredient obsession also reaches skin care. Usually, being health-conscious means caring about skin protection, but not if you’re crunchy! As insane as it sounds, these parents have convinced themselves that sunscreen is more skin-damaging than the sun. I wonder if perhaps they also believe that the sky is magenta. This hysterical claim that it is indeed safer to be unprotected against UV rays, which have been proven to instead cause cancer and rapid aging, is simply more evidence of the lack of credibility of these extreme parenting methods.
Anti-Vaxx
Perhaps the most damaging is the anti-vax epidemic. I can hardly even argue with someone over the topic because I truly have zero patience or care to listen to the rebuttal. Because it’s not a sole decision that only affects one person, the more people who aren’t vaccinated, the more people will be at risk. Herd mentality doesn’t exist without a herd. Besides, the main anti-vaccine argument, that links autism to vaccines, has been proven to be a very fabricated version of the truth. And yet the anti-vax trend is still very prevalent. It’s sad to me to think about how these people’s insolence gives them the leeway to leave their children susceptible to harm. It is child abuse in every aspect. Not only that, the decision is endangering other people as well. I know that certain states, Texas included, have laws that require up-to-date vaccines in order to be enrolled in school, but I find that this only increases the issue because these parents decide to homeschool their children, leaving the poor things to be taught by their clearly uneducated guardians. It shouldn’t be a matter of choice, not when it is endangering their children and others. Vaccines are here for a reason, and I am perfectly happy with receiving a few injections in exchange for not losing limbs to polio. Let these ancient diseases die, and stop allowing these so-called ‘body-conscious’ people to jeopardize the health of everyone.
People should be able to make their own decisions, to an extent. The lifestyles of others are generally none of my business, and I try to respect alternative ways of living rather than judge people. I myself have many habits that one may call unconventional. Yet where I begin to judge is in the matter of harming other people with your own lifestyle choices, especially defenseless children. Instead of romanticizing this parenting style, it should be called out for the abuse that it is. Too many people are being misled into harming themselves and their children by this trend, when it is really only fear-mongering to make people feel overly weary and mistrustful.