Is Sweden Raising a Generation of Brats?

Well, no doubt it's not just Sweden, but still.

At WSJ, "Scandinavian Country's Child-Centric Ways Stir Backlash":

Is Sweden raising a generation of brats?

The country has built a child-friendly reputation on its mandates for long parental leave and provision for state-funded day care from age 1. But a new book paints an ugly underbelly to Scandinavia's child-centric ways. Youngsters here—deemed "competent individuals" by the state and legally protected from spanking—are becoming the chief decision makers in homes at very young ages in what some Swedes think is an alarming trend.

At the center of the discussion is David Eberhard, a Swedish psychiatrist and father of six who published a book titled "How Children Took Power" last year that sparked fierce debate.

Dr. Eberhard says Sweden's child-centric model has "gone too far" and his book suggests the over-sensitivity to children and a reluctance to discipline has bred a nation of ouppfostrade, which loosely translates to "badly raised children." "All this kowtowing to the kids actually causes kids and society more harm than good," Dr. Eberhard said in an interview. He suggests the trend could contribute to higher anxiety levels or depression at a later stage in life for these children.

His book is currently being translated into English and seeking an American publisher.

"I'm not advocating going back to slapping kids," he said. "Swedish parents have lost control [when] kids take center stage in family life."

Like I said, it's not just Sweden. I used to routinely tell my oldest son that my dad would've never let me get away with the way that my son would often speak to me, because things just weren't the same back when I was a kid. (My boy's 18 now and obviously we no longer have the same kind of discipline issues as when he was, say, 12.) But not only that, even the thought of disciplining children the way our parents used to raises questions of child abuse.

More here.