So this is the first guest post on my blog and it’s from a relatively new Dad blogger (like me!). I’ve read through a lot of his content and he does some really interesting posts all about being a Dad in an effort to inform and help the reader. Have a read through this post. It’s very thought provoking and not something I’ve considered not being a ‘young’ parent. See what you think…

I’ve added links to the blog below his post. 

Societal Prejudice Against Young Parents?

What does it mean to be a good parent? I do not think anyone can have a 100 percent correct answer to this question. What I can tell you all right now however, is that it most definitely has nothing whatsoever to do with age.

Whilst some would say maturity comes with age, I strongly disagree. Maturity is a part of someone’s personality. I have met many 30 year old plus parents that are about as mature as cheese that’s still inside the cow. Conversely I have seen 15 year old’s whose maturity would blow your bloody mind. I am begging the world now to stop judging young people’s abilities to look after children solely by their age. It really isn’t fair.

I have noticed that some people know it is wrong to judge parenting ability by age, so instead start attacking their hobbies or dress sense. This is also unacceptable. “That young man is wearing jogging bottoms and has his hood up whilst pushing a pram, he must be a terrible parent”…yes possibly. OR he’s just cold and finds it comforting. I understand that there are a lot of teenage parents out there that give all the rest a bad name. But there are also some pretty crap parents in the higher age bracket. People are just so fixated on the delusional idea that it takes 35 years of living to figure out how to look after another human being. Key word there being ‘delusional’.

Only being 21 myself and having children, I find that I get a fair few non approving looks and under the breath muttering when I’m out in public. All this tends to do is put me down. Unfortunately I’m not a magic wizard. I cannot go back in time with my little wand and change the age at which I conceived my children, just to please the haters. If I’m honest, nor do I really want to. My children are my world like most other parents out there. I take care of them just as well as everyone else, and I consider myself a ‘good’ dad. Why should my age make me an object of disgust for a few unsavoury people?

I guess what I’m getting at is that people need to change. If you don’t like all young parents as soon as you lay your eyes on them, you’re no different than a racist. Fair enough you make a personal choice to become a parent unlike being born black or white, but you’re still making an unfair judgement of character on someone you don’t actually know. To be honest it’s barbaric. So as biased as this subject is due to being directly myself involved in the rant topic, I feel very passionately about people making silly judgements based on appearance. I think it’s time for people to start living by the quote ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’.

So there you go, a really interesting perspective on young parents (and on being one himself) and how this Dad has perceived attitudes towards them. Very thought provoking. Are you a young parent? How have you found the attitudes of others to you? Leave your thoughts in the comments box below.

Here are some links to Theblog if you want to look at more of his posts: