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SPare THe roo
&
THeCHILD?
by
Charles F. Vinson
Discipline - often misunderstood, often mis–
used - remains the key to successful child
rearing. Every parent should understand why.
I
T's NOT
easy to r ear ch ildren today, especially with
so much confu ion among the experts. One expert
r ecommend s a " permi ssive"
method . Another wou ld be ho rrified
at the thought. insisting that a
strict, " no-nonsense" policy
the only road to responsible
~
adulthood. These terms at
.,
t
.¡;
~
bes t are vague. and
much is left for pri-
~
., vate interpreta tion
~
a nd debate.
o
But happily.
e;
m ore a nd mo re
¡f
.: yo ung parents are
~
rea lizing that rea
r–
:f
ing a happy. obed i-
~
ent.
hon es t.
~
friendly. bri ghL
"" uninhibited, tal-
~
~
ented. respectful
;::
<t
(and all th ose
~
-
ot her qualities that parents envision) child does no t
depend on a magic tex tbook formu la. The most impor–
ta n! ingredient is the proper admin istration of dis–
cipline.
Parents of a ll life-styles are discovering that effective
and consisten! discipline - not necessarily the fre–
quency or physical severity of that discipline - is the
secret to child rearing success.
A Teaching Process
Dr. James Dobson, assistant professor of
pediatrics (child development) at the Uni–
versity of Southern California School of
Medicine and au thor of the best sellcr
Dare
10
Discipline,
stresses that "children
thri ve best in an atmosphere of genuine
love. undergirded by reasonable. con–
sisten t discipline.''
"Discipline." which comes from the
same root word as "discipl e." actually
means " lea rning. " Discipline is a
teaching process. invo lving control of
consequences. There are times, for
example, when a parent can efl"ec–
tively discipline a child by givi ng
praise for doing a good job - letting