[lbo-talk] Re: Don't Mess With Mom

[Joel Wendland]

As a person with two small kids, I'd say it isn't necessary always to simply 
tell kids what to do and expect obedience (even very short ones). And I do 
think that authoritarianism in parent-child relationships is pervasive. 
Teaching children violence and shouting as legitimate expressions of anger 
is pervasive. It is true that kids need people (including their parents) to 
watchout for them, but I don't think we need to go over board and justify 
authoritarian parent-child relationships.

Joel Wendland


>From: Chuck0 <chuck at mutualaid.org>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Re: Don't Mess With Mom
>Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 21:17:43 -0500
>
>marc rodrigues wrote:
>>as someone who considers himself an anarchist, and who also regularly
>>babysits relatives ranging in age from 5 months to 9 years, i have to say
>>quite simply that sometimes, maybe even most of the time, you need to tell
>>kids what to do and not to do. if they were physiologically and mentally
>>capable of understanding things and living on their own then they would
>>get up, walk away from their parents and fend for themselves after a
>>couple days like babies of other species do. somewhere on that
>>"manufacturing consesnt" dvd chomsky makes a comment along the lines of
>>"some authoritarian relationships are justified, one of them being
>>parent-child."  of course, it can go too far, but i largely agree with
>>chomsky.
>
>Sure, there are plenty of situations in child-rearing that call for control 
>by parents. I babysit a rambunctious 7-year-old niece, so I understand some 
>of the nuances. Still, from what I've seen from other parents and from my 
>experiences, I still believe that there is too much parenting based on 
>authoritarian needs to control kids constantly. This is what irked the hell 
>out of me about that "poem."
>
>Don't understimate how much you can accomplish with kids by treating them 
>with respect, making compromises, asking them politely to do things, and 
>understanding that kids will be kids, even if they are loud and annoying 
>and inconveniet your adult life.
>
>Chuck0
>
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