Help With Kids Behavior

the mess it is today. I almost threw up when I read the “review”, Dobson is an AMERICAN TALIBAN, August 24, 2004

Reviewer: R. Blazak “Sociologist”

His is exactly the philosophy that got us into the mess we are in—Don’t discipline your child, you may hurt their self esteem.

I went to college and became a teacher in the 1960s. During my career I worked with the results of Blazak’s philosophy: question your superiors; get all the gusto you can get because you only live once; reward the positive, don’t punish the negative; ignore bad behavior, reinforce the good; give warm “fuzzy wuzzies”, not punishment; don’t play competitive games, or use competition in the classroom, it builds aggression among some, and hurts the self esteem of others.

Then there were, believe it or not, special classes that let minors smoke in the classroom, and liberal professors and some teachers advocating making condoms available to school children.

We can thank these “liberal” sociologists, psychologists, professors, and teachers for the mess we are in today. Discipline has become a dirty word. Challenging teachers in the classroom has become the norm. Parents teaching children their “rights”, and demanding that teachers not discipline their children is all too common. Parents refusing to let teachers keep their misbehaving and/or failing students after school, or not allowing them to come to Saturday school, then blaming the teachers for their child’s failure.

I have several of Dr. Dobson’s books. This is the kind of discipline and training we’ve abandoned in this country. If you like smart alec, uncooperative, reluctant, and sometimes dangerous students, then you’ll love Blazak’s alternative style to Dr. Dobson.

Our society is a result of people like Blazak who forced the rules and laws of society upon a questioning academic community. It wasn’t conservatives like Dr. Dobsom. I know I watched it happen. Millions of older, probably retired, teachers will also attest to that. To make matters worse, young teachers have been taught this garbage and many of them live by the liberal philosophy, perpetuating the problem. Now schools are wondering how to handle these children of society’s creation.

My advice is to read Dr. Dobson. Forget the religious part,if you wish, but use your common sense. Discipline is needed in every walk of life–athletics, music, academics,military, and much more. So, where is this discipline going to be taught, if not in the home?

Today’s parents dump their children off at school, and expect us to feed them, wipe their nose, check their eyes, keep them safe, and, if we have time, teach. Then they blame the schools for all the behavior problems,academic problems, and societal problems that result from them handing over their responsibilites to other entities, and too often without support. I once had a parent tell me it was our job as teachers to teach the child how to behave–without discipline, of course.

This is the new American way; let the children run wild, express their worst feelings so we don’t hurt their self esteem, then blame the bad results on society. Of course it’s society’s fault because we listened to liberals like Balzak for several decades, and look where it’s got us. He would say we didn’t intend that. Well, maybe not, but that’s where you got us.

Just read the book and decide for yourself.
Rating: 5 / 5

James Dobson is an interesting case study- like Nietzche, he is immensely fascinating not because of any literal truth in what he says, but because he has postively *no insight* into himself.

Like Nietzche, after he had gone insane, Dobson believes he has a special relationship with the deity. (I’m waiting for Dobson’s “Ecce Homo.”) Unfortunately for Dobson, unlike Nietzche, Dobson projects his persecution complex and psychic suffering on *children.*

That is not only insane, it is cowardly, and the hallmark of the brute. I almost wrote “uncivilized,” but primitive tribes often don’t do what Dobson recommends. The idea of *breaking the spirit* of a child to *control* him is anathema to many indigenous peoples. It is nothing short of advocacy of what Alice Miller, and Laing would call “soul murder” or “psychic murder.” Any parent in fact who reads this book ought to read Alice Miller’s “For Your Own Good : Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence,” as a corrective. Some of the worst products of the human race were “strong willed” children whose spirit was broken with “discipline.” Including Adolf Hitler.

Laing had correctly identified the dysfunctional family structure as a protection racket. Dobson is not satisfied with simple gangsterism on the part of child abusers- rather Dobson wants to introduce the *gulag* into homes.
Rating: 1 / 5

Frankly, Dr. Dobson should share with his readers that most of his “opinions” are based on biblical stories. I find it offensive that I was searching for answers to questions directly related to a “strong willed child” and he saw fit to constantly “quote the bible”. At a minimum – this should be disclosed to the interested individual prior to purchasing the book (such as on the back cover). Not after!
Rating: 2 / 5