What have I done?

Hahahaha dude, honestly you're just a sensitive baby.

Stabbing a child with a needle is not on the same level as the reaction that child just had

You're right, they have a much worse reaction to the needle

Let me give you a personal example. I was running once as a young child and a dog that I WAS FAMILIAR WITH ran after me an bit onto my leg. It didn't draw blood, it didn't latch on and shake. It just chased me and bit onto my leg. I was even told after it happened that it chases you because its playing.

I'll give you a personal example. When I was a child (less than 10) there was a rottweiler chained up in front of the apartment next door, by an owner that really didn't care about the dog. One day I tried to pet the dog and it chomped down on my hand, lacerating both sides of my hand, my wrist, tearing multiple tendons and ligaments, as well as infecting me with fucking rabies, all while I was playing alone outside. I was in a hospital for days as they tried to remove multiple infections and fix my hand. Here's the interesting part, I developed absolutely no trauma from it, I laughed it off even in the hospital as having been my fault, I even desperately tried to convince the state not to put the dog down (which they did, much to my distaught). My point is that there is absolutely no way to tell whether an experience will cause long-lasting effects, it's almost entirely up to the individual.

Because of that nature, you have two choices as a parent to make. Either a) you try your best to remove all experiences you think could potentially cause trauma (helicopter mom, controlling parents, supervised TV only, only "good christian toys," etc.) or b) recognize there is no way to predict trauma and only avoid experiences that actually cause harm (you know, being a normal parent). My dad let me watch horror films with him when I was as young as 8, and now I have zero interest in them because they're boring and mundane. It was normalized to me as a kid so it doesn't affect me--i.e. child development.

You might end up with a functioning adult but they are going to have repressed mental trauma.

You are so beyond assumptions at this point you're talking fiction. If you think that being a super controlling parent is the correct method then for the love of GOD don't have kids.

I remember being in school how easy it was to point out the kids with helicopter parents--scared of everything, super timid, has little to no experience and no 'cool stories' to tell at recess, has a strict schedule (no going over to their house or vice versa), and most of all was easily bullied. I'm not sure if you were the sheltered kid and so you don't recognize this archetype, but as a child this was very much in the public conscious. Everyone knew which kids had the controlling parents because they don't develop properly.

/r/WatchPeopleDieInside Thread Parent Link - i.imgur.com