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We are in a period in our culture where we overvalue and overprotect children. This is a generational change; when I was a kid (the late 60s/early 70s), children were undervalued and underprotected, while in a previous generation children were again overvalued and overprotected.
My era of youth had terms like "latchkey children". The current era has terms like "no child left behind".
Another example: Disney, during the earlier promotion of childhood, had a string of masterpieces in the 50s: Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmations. My childhood was 1968-1978: the decline of Disney and second-rate films like "The Aristocats" (1970) and "Robin Hood" (1973) and long periods of time when NO Disney animated films were even produced. It wasn't until the latest overvaluing of children that the latest round of Disney masterpieces would arrive, starting with "The Little Mermaid" (1989).
I can't see that it has any actual benefit to the children. The under/overvaluing is solely for the benefit of the adults.
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