If you are older than 40 the name Benjamin Spock is more than familiar. It was Spock that told an entire generation of parents to take it easy, don’t discipline your children and allow them to express themselves. Discipline, he told us, would warp a child’s fragile ego. Millions followed this guru of child development and he remained unchallenged among child rearing professionals. However, before his death Dr. Spock made an amazing discovery: He was wrong. In fact, he said:
“We have reared a generation of brats. Parents aren’t firm
enough with their children for fear of losing their love or
incurring their resentment. This is a cruel deprivation that we
professionals have imposed on mothers and fathers. Of course, we
did it with the best of intentions. We didn’t realize until it
was too late how our know-it-all attitude was undermining the
self assurance of parents.”
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #20863]