Last April, a giant news story was on every news channel and was on the covers of many newspapers and magazines for weeks. This nightmare of the Columbine massacre impacted citizens across the nation. What compelled Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two young teenage boys, to open fire on an innocent high school, killing thirteen people and then, killing themselves? What were they thinking? Who is to blame? Do we blame the music they listened to, the video games they played, the high school cliques they were not a part of? No one may ever know who or what is to blame, but one group of parents interviewed by 20/20 claim to have an explanation for these seemingly unexplainable phenomena. They say the answer lies with the parents and their method of parenting. This group of guardians suggest a type of child rearing called attachment parenting. "They believe the style of parenting they practice will inoculate their children against ever becoming troubled" (1).
             Attachment parenting is a style of parenting in which the mother and father spend as much as time as possible with the baby, "physically connected'' to the child. "While other parents use the help of walkers, playpens, even strollers to give themselves a little down time, 11-month-old Maddox McQuay," one of the children being profiled by 20/20, "has never set foot in one. The bulk of her short life has been spent in a device called a sling, an indispensable second appendage for attachment parents" (3). This device resembles a sling for a broken arm, yet for a baby. Allowing the parent to take care of his or her daily chores and errands while having the baby physically attached, a sling proves to be very useful.
             Another aspect of attachment parenting involves the sleeping arrangements of the family. Since a requirement of this style of child rearing is to be as close as possible, the only logical answer for these parents...