Page 3040 - 1970S

and social valucs o r thc home.

ne i!!.hborhood. fricnds. communit v.

o r 2hurch.

·

So \\ Íthout th e acti ve participa–

ti on or pa rcnts or guardi ans who

\ a lue a nd cx hi bi t some measure of

th c

qu a litic~

or

re~ pcc t.

cooperation.

and conccrn for o th crs. there is

a lm n~ t

no poss ibili ty th at the next

generation can lca rn thcm.

..What

i~

ncedcu:·

~ay~

Bronfenbren–

ncr. ·•is a

chan~e

in our ways orli\·in !!.

tha t will once

<~ga in

bri ng adults back

into the lives ofchildrcn and children

back into the livcs of adults.' '

Parents in Need of Help

Responsiblc pa rents dare not de–

pend on hopc and luck to fashion

the critica ! a ttitu<.l es thcy valuc in

th eir childrcn. Wc cannot rea lly ex–

pec t des irable bchavior in our chil–

dr e n if we haven ·t d o ne o ur

homework ea rly in th cir li ves. Toa

largc deg rce. wc rcap what wesow.

There

i ~

a critica ! period during

th c firs t lou r or fivc ycars when a

child can mo:,t readily gct a solid

lo undution or proper alti tudes and

va lucs. We must not fa il thc genera–

tion wh ich is sti 11

rcsponsive to

sound val ues and principies of good

charactcr.

Too frequentl y young. imma turc

or un prcparcd mcn and women find

them clvc addl ed with thc rcspon–

sib ility or an imprcssionable. he lp–

less infant about which they know

almmt nothing.

How many pa rcnts have rcccived

one iota of forma l trai ning in the

ve ry criti ca! a rca or child

~·ea ring?

Socicty dcma nds th a t those who

raise chickcn!-t and pig havc more

training lhan

t h o~c

who rear chil –

dren. What a tragcdy and travcs ty'

Many parcnts do nol und crs tand

thc emotional or intcllcctual needs

of thcir chi ldrcn. Many parents a re

unwittingly rcinlo n.:i ng in 1hcir chi l–

drcn thc vc ry habits thcy wa nt to

cl iminatc. largcly rrom an improper

a pprouch or

~

rong cmotional com–

muni cat ions

~

ilh thcir childrcn.

o parcnt is pcrfect. Ancl a chiJd

i:..

11 0 1

mua lly des troyed by a

re~

mi stakes. E\cry parent can imprO\ C

on the parenling art : yct it will take

elfort lo gc t the propcr balance

or

knowlcdgc. mcthod . a nd a ttitudcs.

Wha t i · a good parcnt ? Eve ry

pa rent necd:. to know ri ght mora l

The

PLAIN TRUTH July 1976

WAYWARD TEEN-AGERS'

ADVICE TO PARENTS

Severa! )Cars ago. a minister.

C.

Galca. was ass igned to thc Guelph

Correctional Centre for summer

work. During

hi~

time there he de–

velopcd an excc llenl rapport wi th

th e young lawbreakers there. After

becoming acquai nled with them.

he asked thc boys to delve into

th ei r backgrounds for clues as

to

why they had cnded up in that in–

stitution lor delinquents. He asked

them

LO

uraw up a ''code tor par–

ents." using as a basis specific

areas where thei r own parents had

failed. Here is

~hat

they advised :

l.

Keep cool. Don' t

lo~e

your

temper in the crunch. Keep the lid

on when things go wrong. Kids

need the reassurance tha t comes

from con trolled responses.

2.

Don't gct strung out from too

much booLe or too many pills.

Wh en wc see our parents reaching

for thosc crutchcs. we get the idea

th a t nobody gocs ou t there alone.

that it's perfectly okay to go for a

bottle ora capsule when things get

heavy. Rcmember. you r ch ildren

are grea t imitalors. And we lose re–

specl tor parents "ho 1ell us to be–

ha\ e onc \\ay whilc they a re

behaving anothcr way.

3. Bug us a lillle. Be :.trict and

consis ten! in dishing out

di~cipline.

Show us who's boss. l t gives us a

feeling of security lO know we'vc

got some strong supporls under us.

4. Don't blow your dass. Keep

the dignity of parcnthood. Stay on

lhat pedestal. Your children have

pu t yo u thcre beca use they need

somcone to !ook up to. Don't try to

va lu cs. how to sct limits. how lo en–

co uragc intcllcctual and emotiona l

growth . as wcll

a~

ho" to d isci pli ne

with in a framcwork o r lovc. l t's a

mighty big task.

Th c helpful pri ncipie:. on the fo l–

lowing

page~.

\\h ile not tota l an–

swe r ~

t o cvcr) c h i ld - rea r i ng

problem. a re solid. common-sc nse

meth ods to use in tra in ing your ch il–

dren Lo bccomc rc:. pons iblc and use–

fui mcmbcrs o f socicty.

o

dress. dance. or tal!.. likc your kids.

You cmbarrass us and

)OU

look ri–

diculous.

5. Light a candle. Show us the

way. Tell us God is not dead.

sleeping. or on vacat ion. We need

Lo believe in something biggcr and

stronger than oursclves.

6. l fyou catch us lying. stealing.

or bcing cruel. gct LOugh. Let us

kn ow

WHY

what we uid was

wrong. Tmprcss on us the impor–

tance of not repeating such behav–

ior. When we need punishment.

dish it out. But lct us know you

till lO\ e us. even though we have

let you down. lt'll make us think

twice before wc makc the same

1110\C

again.

7. Call our blutr. Make it clear

that you mean >vhat you sa). Don't

be

wishy-\~

ashy. Don't com–

promise. And don't be inlimidated

by our threats to drop out of

school or leavc homc. Stand firm.

lf you coll apsc. we will know we

beat you down. and we will not be ·

happy about lhe "victory.'· Kids

don·t want everything they ask for.

8. Be honesl with us. Tell the

truth no matter what. And be

straighl-arrow about it. Luke\\arm

an!->wers makc us uneasy. We can

smell uncertainty a mile away.

This means being generous v.ith

praise. Jf

)'OLI

givc

LIS

kids a few

compliments once in a while. we

will be ablc to accept crilicism