Writing inspired by The Thomas Sowell Reader, pages 54-56, Little Things.
Is it a reasonable expectation for the younger generation,
children in elementary school, to grow into respectful, law-abiding adults? Most people would say yes, but if they
really thought about it and knew what is being expected of and taught to these
young children, they might not.
I was shopping at a mall recently when I noticed some
parents explaining to their daughter that they would not see Santa that day. The little girl stomped her feet and
became very angry, yet, the parents did nothing. They kept walking through the store as if nothing was
wrong. I have to wonder whether
the parents care about training or disciplining their daughter, but either way,
doing nothing will get the same results as not caring. If that little girl turns into to an
unruly teenager, her parents will probably ask themselves “What happened?”
At just about any time of day, you can see rebellious teens
on TV. On an episode of “World’s
Strictest Parents” I saw a teenager refuse to eat with his family. His mother asked him nicely, and he
refused, she reasoned with him and he rudely walked away. There was no firmness, no authority,
and no discipline yet the parents wondered “Why are they like this?” The teen commented later “She doesn’t
understand me or why I’m doing what I am and I can’t explain it.” Bad behavior
like this does not appear overnight.
It all starts with just a few incidents that were not properly
corrected.
If you did not discipline your toddler and he became troublesome,
would you send him away during the day to be the responsibility of a
schoolteacher? Many parents do,
thinking that the teachers will straighten them out. Teachers do not want to deal with wild children any more than
the parents do. Some teachers will
try to help them; some will look the other way. At the end of the day, it is not a teacher’s job to imprint
their own ideals of obedience upon students.
The day that parents leave their role as a parent to
teachers is a sad day indeed, but why should we be surprised? Those parents were probably raised in a
very similar way, being sent to school to become the responsibility of a tax
funded teachers union, therefore, the cycle is repeated.
“Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.”
“Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.”
“The rod and reproof give wisdom,
but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”
Once again, thank you Josie!
ReplyDeleteMay we all improve in addressing the 'little things' of life!