by Christopher Mcphail

Created on: January 06, 2009

Is anyone to blame for an unruly child? I would like to say that at the front line it is the parent's mistakes that lead to unruly and undisciplined children, but at the core of it all, it is society's mistakes. When I was a young boy growing up in the 70's I was mainly disciplined by my Grandfather, as I didn't have a father, and when that man spoke, you had one option, and that was to listen. The only other option you had was "The Belt". I knew from a very early age, that when an adult spoke, they were the authority, and if I didn't listen, there would be repercussions. I was also only spanked maybe three or four times in my entire childhood. The first time I was spanked I was given a couple warnings, the third strike and I was out. It taught me, that if I do as I am told, if I listen, then I won't get spanked. This isn't cruel, it's a fact of life, and unfortunately, it is one that has been replaced, by a kinder gentler world, one that coddles and caters to the weak. I have no doubt that the practice of corporal punishment has been abused, and it is those children, now adults, that take a more hands off approach to their children, sometimes however, talking sternly really gets you nowhere.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /

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A child generally has nobody to teach them right from wrong, other than a parent, it's what we do, it is our job as parents to prepare our children for the world they will face. In generations past, in the generations that formed this country, and made it the best country in the world, and made it free, they understood this, and made sure their children understood the value of a hard day's work, the value of their word, and the value of pride. Today, everybody is looking for any reason to make it a softer, happier world, and as much as that sounds great, and in fact would be great, it isn't going to happen. If for nothing else, because we can't control the rest of the world, we can only control ourselves, and our children.

A parent needs to establish from day one, who is the boss, a parent needs to be firm, but a parent needs to be loving above all else. Much the same way a pack of dogs establishes dominance, so too must the parents. A child needs to know who is in charge, which it looks too to learn right from wrong and what does it do when the adult speaks. A child must listen to its parents without questions, without hesitation. For example, if a child is running away from its parent at

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