The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (TV Series) Over Protection (1954) User Reviews

Being 'over-protective' was different then

[hawked-off · 7/10 · 7 January 2023]

Overprotective parents - traditionally mothers with their sons, fathers with their daughters - has been a theme in television shows, and a conversation in popular culture, for many decades. This show demonstrates how different the discussion, and the solution to the problem, was in the 1950s. Ozzie (and the boys) tell Harriet that she is being overprotective of Ricky. Ozzie argues that he's 13 now, and needs to learn to stand on his own two feet, and develop self-reliance. That's when he's being bothered by Harriet to wash his ears and wear a jacket when he goes outside in the cold. It's a bit different, however, when an invitation comes for Ricky to travel alone by train to visit an old friend who now lives in a town 150 miles away. Both parents have misgivings at first. Suffice to say that the conversations and actions surrounding 13-year-old Ricky then (1954) would be very different from those typical of the XXIst century, with regard to a boy of 13 traveling alone. Teens today are considered to be children until much older ages than they were back then, and protection (Harriet's approach) is much more common now (2023) than preparation for life (Ozzie's approach), almost certainly due to the feminist emphasis on the woman (mother) as the primary child-care decisionmaker. When debates arise as to which is more important - preparing kids for life or protecting them from it - shows like this can provide valuable historical background. Many people raising kids today might not even believe that parents ever gave 13-year-olds like Ricky that much freedom and responsibility.