Toddlers on Leashes: A Cultural Norm in Transition? (Chapter 4 Second Post)

Do human toddlers belong on leashes like puppies?  A couple of decades ago, when I was a baby, my parents tell me that putting a child on a leash under any circumstances was simply unheard of and tantamount to child abuse.  If someone did try to put a child on a leash back then, it would have to have been a real dog leash, and some sort of dog harness or collar modified for human child use.  

But today, all you have to do is a quick search for “toddler leashes” on Amazon.com to see how the social acceptance of toddler leashes has changed.  Amazon.com offers dozens, perhaps hundreds, of leash-like products specifically designed to keep young children tethered to their parents.  Interestingly, these products are not called “leashes.” Instead they have cute and innocuous sounding names like “Munchkin Stay-close Harness and Safety Strap,”  “Lion Buddy Harness Buddy,”  “Safety strap,”  “Toddler Tether,”  and “Toddler Tot-A-Long.”  They come in countless styles designed to look like toys, often stuffed animals.  Disney characters are available (probably sold at the Disney theme parks), as are Sponge-Bob Square Pants, and nearly every cute and cuddly stuffed animal you can imagine.  It seems that lots of people now buy these things for their toddlers.

 http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/today-in-the-park?videoId=b092ea65-ddb9-2419-d042-b8fe937af940&gt1=32121

While toddlers on leashes may have become a much more common practice than in the past, it is still not universally accepted by parents.  Click here to watch a short comedy skit of moms in the park debating the pros and cons of leashes for toddlers.

The discussion between the two mothers with different opinions on the propriety of leashing a toddler demonstrates Newman’s point that cultural norms are not static rules (Newman, 2010, p. 101).  What may have once been a pretty strict unwritten rule (no kids on leashes), is now at least a subject of debate.  If toddler leash use becomes so widely accepted that is the majority practice, it could even become the new norm, so that parents going out in public without a leash on their toddler would be seen as irresponsible and bad parents.  I don’t think we are there yet, but one needs only to look at the changing views (now institutionalized norms) of child safety restraints in cars over recent decades to see how norms can change before our eyes.

Getting back to leashes, however, what led to the changing views of this once unthinkable child-rearing practice?  Perhaps it is the increasingly crowded conditions in public places that people take their children that lead parents to feel less secure in their ability to keep their children in hand.  Perhaps it is the nonstop coverage of child abductions on cable news channels that makes parents feel that the world for their children is an increasingly dangerous place. For those parents in favor of leashes, it may just boil down to a matter of safety:  Having a harness on your child in a busy area (park, street, airport, amusement park) helps keep the child safe --from cars, from strangers, and from just getting lost.  To toddler leash users, it is a matter of choosing safety over looks, regardless of what other people may think. 

Despite an increasing acceptance of toddler leashing, parents who make this choice still can expect to encounter  sanctions from onlookers and other parents such as looks of disgust, spoken comments or opinions on leashes, and, in general, just plain unwanted attention .  Because our culture still connects leashes with dogs, seeing a child on a leash makes it look like the child is being treated as an animal, or less than human.  The “optics” of leashing toddlers can be pretty harsh.  Click here http://thechive.com/2011/02/10/when-did-kids-on-leashes-become-the-norm-26-photos/  to see a collection of pictures of leashed toddlers which make the practice look quite unappealing, with kids on leashes acting like animals.

In contrast, the pictures here http://hinckleskoma.hubpages.com/hub/What-is-that-Harness-leash-child-or-dog  show mostly happy and well-behaved children on leashes held by attentive and proactive parents.

According to Newman, "a compelling reason for norms to change is to accomodate new technologies" (Newman, 2010, 0. 101).  Perhaps we should add "new social conditions or dangers" to the list.