Terminal Frost

It sounds to me like you've been watching the Dog Whisperer too much. Human beings are a lot more complex and intelligent than household pets and therefore deserve a little more respect. I understand that cognitive development prevents kids from understanding certain concepts at certain ages. I am not sure at what ages you condone punishing or enforcing rules without explaining them, but I believe that even at the youngest age a child deserves more than that - unless of course you want to end up with a little robot that secretly despises you. The kind of enforcement you suggest will work for most parents if they have a strong will. I'm afraid, however, that as the child grows older and is responsible for making decisions on their own, they will be more likely to rebel against their oppressive parents. By the time most kids are high school seniors or freshman in college they can't handle the freedom given to them. They end up drinking way too much, contracting a few STDs and wasting their parent’s money.

It doesn't surprise me that so many of you have responded by saying that kids should be spanked and rules should always be enforced without the need for explanation. I feel the same frustration with the kind of kid that was the subject of this thread. The trouble is that for all these "problem children" any amount of force imposed on them by the time they are 6 or 7 will probably not do anything. When you are raised by such horrible parents I doubt there is much left that they could do. Doing a complete 180 and punishing the kid for every little thing will not fix the situation at this point.

My parents punished me when I did something wrong and I had my fair share of fights with them when I was a little kid. The difference is that they didn't hit me or treat me like a dog, ever. They always explained to me and my sister exactly what was wrong and what their rationale behind the punishment was. They let us know why what we were doing was wrong and why it was necessary to correct our behavior. I never ever looked at my Christmas presents even though my parents would tell us where they were. I didn't always do what I was told to do by authorities either, but my parents raised me to be that way. My mom and dad are two of the most intelligent people that I know, and as such they never had a problem arguing or discussing the nature of their parenting. They were right, and I thank god that we had an open dialogue at all times because it taught me to not only question authority, but also that my parents are smart as hell; so not only did I just listen to them, I actually believed that what they told me was for my best interest and I never felt a need to rebel against them or keep anything from them.

Love is the answer