"He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently." Proverbs 13:24
An old friend from school had posted this verse. Her son found it while randomly reading a bible that had once been misplaced. He was flipping through verses that were underlined, when he came upon this scripture. It put into perspective why a parent should be a parent.
My wife and I came upon a video, floating around Facebook, that disturbed us tremendously. You may have already seen this. In the video, a parent was video recording her daughter, while a the doctor's office. The girl was there to receive vaccinations, but became upset, complaining, and very uncooperative. Instead of correcting the behavior, the parent decided to record her behavior and post the video for everyone to see. You can clearly hear the mother, in the background, laughing the entire time. Inexcusable! Since when did it become a parenting technique to humiliate and embarrass our children, especially to a world-wide media? Two words: BAD PARENTING!
I grew up in a disciplined household. If I did something wrong, I was told not to do it again, why, and what would happen if I didn't comply. If I did it again, consequences were taken. The situation was nipped in the bud. End of story. I don't recall getting disciplined for the same infraction twice.
Today, people hear the word "discipline" and go on the "I refuse to spank my kid" rant. Spanking is only one form of discipline, and certainly has times when it is useful. However, discipline defined is training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience. Punishment is a penalty or consequence as a result of improper behavior. It is something that the rule breaker does not like. It comes in many forms.
In all my years in elementary education, humiliation was NEVER a decent punishment for a misbehaving child. Laughing at a child that is clearly upset and acting out as a result, will not make the situation any better. A parent humiliating their child can cause more damage to the child's psyche than anyone else could.
Also, a parent lacking to take control of a situation, often means that someone else is forced to take matters into their own hands. In the video, it was a nurse that got the young girl under control. The mom was still laughing. While the nurse has obviously had experience with situations like this, she should not have been required to take over the parenting.
Parents that refuse to train and discipline their children should remember that the child will grow up to become a product of that environment. Those types of parents are setting their kids up for failure, by not properly teaching their children. We are meant to guide our children and they learn from us...whether it's by good or bad examples.
Are you guiding your child(ren) and correcting their course along the way? Or, are you "lazy parenting" refusing to give them any proper direction at all?
Think about it!
Great words!
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