I'm tired of new-age parents who don't discipline their kids. When did kids start having 'rights' that went beyond food, shelter and love? I love Jack, but because I love him, I will keep a disciplined and structured environment. I'm not talking about a military-style home, but a home built on mutual respect with the parents as the leaders. Also, when did bribing kids to do work become the standard? If my son expects to be a member of our household, he'll contribute to it like Jamie and I do (within reason).
To me, some of these parents don't discipline for a variety of reasons:
- They want to be their kids' friends.
- They are too lazy or tired. (Busy parents have less time with their kids and it's tempting to give in to kids during the evening hours just to make the night go by more pleasantly.)
- They don't want to 'hurt' the kids' self-esteem.
The problem with kids these days is that they have too much self-esteem and too little self-control. I want Jack to grow up to be confident in his abilities, but not feel entitled to the world catering to his needs. There are rights that we all have, but then there are privileges that we have to work for.
I don't know when this all started. I'm 31 and many older generations could probably point to my age group as being selfish and out-of-control; however, at work many of the college and high school interns seem to lack the basics of being a part of a team atmosphere and seem to have an attitude when expected to do--or not to do--certain things.
In the store I constantly seen harried parents give in to whining children. If Jack whined like that, the only thing I would give him is a swift smack in the rear. Now, I don't advocate child abuse and would only spank or swat after other methods of discipline, such as public humiliation or deprivation of a favorite thing, were to fail. But a firm reminder on a bottom serves as a reminder of who is in control.
No comments:
Post a Comment