PARENTING November 15, 2004 Issue

Good kids, bad kids

Tom Black

The Other Day I stopped by our local library in Birmingham, Michigan. It has a fine collection, but I was amazed to see 599 (I counted them!) well-circulated titles on the subject of parenting. And I noticed that many of them included a section on discipline.

Obviously many parents are looking for answers to questions about how best to raise their children. They want well-behaved and responsible kids, yet they don't want to be seen as "the bad guys"—which can lead to some conflict.

After my library visit, I confirmed in my dictionaries that discipline and disciple have the same root—the Latin word for learner. For me, this suggests that a good rule for providing kids with successful discipline is for parents, grandparents, and teachers to successfully "discipline" themselves. The Bible puts it this way: "First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Matt. 7:5, Good News Bible).