In my opinnion, the problem these days is that kids have no respect for authorities..
If you think about major differences in upbringing now and 50 years ago, it's use of physical force.
Kids were brought up in a very strict manner, and the fathers palm taught the kids to respect the parents straight from the cradle. Standing against the parent just wasn't an option.
The generations of those times generally respected authorities and acted accordingly. Naturally even then there was crime.
Nowadays child psychologists rant about the damaging effect a healthy slap has on the child. How the child must be taught by means of grounding, not letting to eat or other mental suppression.
A child's nature is to seek its limits.. If the parent doesn't set the limits the child is not happy. The non-violent approach leads inevitably to the situation where the child realizes he/she can do whatever he wants with no real limitation from the parents. Groundings and other mental punishments do nothing but annoy the kid. This often leads to total disrespect of the parent.
Don't get confused if I'm talking about limitations now, it doesn't contradict with the things I've said above.. I believe that when a child is at a certain age, he must have very clear limitations on what he can do and what not. Just in order to live a normal child's life. That includes following the requests of the parents.
But when the child develops and starts to have its natural curiosity, that's the time I'm not going to interfere. I was an extremely curious child and I knew about all kinds of things before I even started school. I knew about sex, how babies are done. I knew about contraceptives and that there are dangers out there, diseases being one example. I learned to write at an age of 4 years so I was fully literate when I started school.
I lived in a bilingual family so I had a basic knowledge in english language, too, before the lessons started at school.
My favourite hobby was reading through the encyclopedia of my parents. I spent hours per day browsing it and gobbing interesting information from it. Naturally as I developed, especially the parts with human biology interested me. Yes I saw the reproductive organs as well as the internal ones at the age of 7 - it didn't corrupt me.
I can only wish my children will have the same kind of thirst for knowledge and I'm going to do my best to support that. If theyr'e anything like me they're also going to demand strict privacy - something I always had to fight about with my parents. They never even did anything outrageous like put spy programs to my computer (well back in those days I had no access to internet anyway, there was none.
) or read my letters etc.
Wipass's girl is already 14 and at a prime sexual age.. Chances are that she's already doing all kinds of nasty stuff with her boyfriend. Then when she gets knocked up its too late to start teaching her about safe sex and contraceptives.
I was continuously amazed how ignorant other kids of my age were as I grew up - even in my country where no special means are taken to try to 'protect' young people from this. At the age of 15 we had a special discussion forum with a priest where sex could be discussed among other things.. And the lack of knowledge on the kids was just unbelievable. In my group there were girls who were questioning if they could get pregnant by kissing. Then in the same group there was a girl who already had had an abortion - I bet she knew how she got pregnant.
When I was 14 my parent's trusted me like an adult and I could make my own decisions. It would have freaked me out totally if I learned that my parents would actually demand to see my post exchange etc. at thier will.
Maybe this will bring some perspective to what I'm saying.
