Yes, that’s my question. I’m talking about the kind that you and I received as a child. The kind that we knew would come if we misbehaved or caused our parents any kind of grief.
When we were young we were taught the consequences of our actions. We quickly learned the rules of appropriate behavior and the type of punishment that followed should we not abide by those established rules of behavior. There was no “time out”. There was applied “science”, if you will, in the form of a switch, paddle or belt to our padded posterior.
Children learned quickly what was acceptable and what was not. Our parents did not have to worry about what we might do in public because we had learned the lessons of acceptable behavior. I’m not saying we were perfect little angels, because sometimes we did test those lessons and were forced to re-learn them.
We did not have parents who refused to accept the job of forging us into responsible adults. Our parents didn’t ignore us until we caused a major crisis or run us to the doctor seeking a diagnosis for our behavior so that they could use that as an excuse for a lack of discipline on their part.
Yes, I have seen that. I am a retired nurse and I have seen my fair share of parents who don’t want to take responsibility for their children. And it seems to be getting worse on a daily basis.
I am not advocating beating your children, but a pop on the butt alerts the child to the fact that there are consequences to their actions. But parents must be consistent in order to raise the child to be a responsible member of society. Inconsistency does the child no good whatsoever.
It seems today’s parents, don’t want to discipline their children. They are quick to blame someone else when their child does wrong instead of correcting the child’s behavior. And then they wonder why no one wants them or their children around.
This little essay will probably offend some folks, I really don’t care. It needs to be said.
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