By Ogova Ondego
Published March 28, 2023
Though times change, things like children and parenting don’t; and never will they change.
This is the message that is stressed in bestselling and well loved books like The New Dare to Discipline,The Strong-Willed Child, Preparing for Adolescence and Life on the Edge that are all written by child development psychologist and family counsellor James Dobson.
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The principles of bringing up healthy, respectful, happy children, Dr Dobson argues, are eternal, having originated with the creator of families.
“Children thrive … in an atmosphere of genuine love, undergirded by reasonable, cponsistent discipline”, Dr Dobson writes. “We must not depend on hope and luck to fashion the critical attitudes we value in our children”
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Yes, bringing up children calls for courage, consistency, conviction, diligence and enthusiastic effort, argues Dobson who holds a doctorate in child development. Children need to be taught values like self-discipline, responsible behaviour, self-control, kindness, honesty, truthfulness, generosity, appreciation and taking responsibility.
“I don’t believe the scientific community is the best source of information on proper parenting techniques,” argues Dobson who is not just a scientist but has also taught paediatrics in university. “”The best source of guidance for parents can be found in the wisdom of the Judeo-Christian ethic, which originated with the creator and was then handed down generation by generation from the time of Christ.”
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Dr Dobson challenges members of the extended family–aunts, uncles, cousins, grand parents–not to abdicate their role in child upbringing.
Child psychologist Dobson, writing with warmth and humour about the problems of infancy, childhood, adolescence, childhood rivalry, hyperactivity and the common errors made by frustrated parents, advises parents to reward good behaviour even as they discourage bad behaviour in their children.
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Readers are likely to draw dividends from the Question and Answers sections that address specific questions by parents.
The New Dare to Discipline may have been first published as Dare to Discipline in USA in 1970, but demand for the message contained therein has been revised and reprinted in various countries across the world since then.
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