I sometimes get so sidetracked reading about housing and the economy I push aside reading about more important things. Like raising kids. (Sound trite? Would you rather be rich w/ spoiled rotten kids who live with you the rest of your life because they can’t hold a job or an average house and income with responsible independent children?) But even if you’re not a parent this will offer insight into some of our culture’s prevalent ills from the last several decades.
The US spends more on education today yet our children are learning far less. We have higher teacher to student ratios than ever before yet test scores are at their lowest. Are our children plagued with A.D.D.? Are teachers unable to control classrooms? Are books and low-tech classroom supplies not stimulating enough for children?
John Rosemond argues that parenting started out as a tried and true method handed down through the generations by grandma and her no non-sense approach, but was slowly replaced by psychology experts who lacked experience but did have a bunch of capital letters at the end of their names. Having been enlightened they therefore knew how to better handle the fragile psyche of today’s children that are problematic because of self-esteem damaging parents.
Fifty years ago children were held accountable for their actions but today’s children have no such responsibility. It’s widely believe parents hinder a child’s development by letting them fail, or leaving the to solve the problem they got themselves into. As a result today’s kids aren’t learning how to be responsible members of society.
I’ll stop paraphrasing the book and mention why I’m posting it here. In reading it I found myself understanding some of the behavior in today’s financial mess: attitudes of entitlement, instant gratification, shirking responsibility, believing the ends justify the means or the rules don’t apply to me. These all stem from a shift in how our children are raised. So the argument goes.
I also found myself wishing every parent in the country would read this and I don’t think it’s too far fetched to say if that were the case, we might not be in the financial mess we are today.
If you believe in God read: Parenting by the Book
If you don’t, read: Parent Power
If your kids are a pain in the butt read both.
The author is John Rosemond; who by the way is also a psychologist so if you’re offended by “the experts with letters after their names” comment then read one of the books and see what you think.
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