Parents urged to assert authority over children
Date: 14/09/2009 / Category: Indoor Play for kids
Adults need to assert authority over their children to help to prepare them for later life, according to the editor of a child development website.
Catherine Hanly, editor of Raisingkids.co.uk, says laying down rules for children provides important boundaries for them to exist within.
"When we don't provide a framework for children to grow up within, we are actually doing them a disservice," she said.
She highlighted the importance of preparing children for independence, "existence within a society" and "within a community framework".
"If we don't teach them authority, how to respond well to authority and to deal with authority, then we don't enable them to actually grow up and be a useful, valuable member of the community," she said.
Children should be taught how to behave appropriately in groups, which can be observed and monitored during group play, in indoor play centres for example.
Ms Hanly's comments follow reports today from Dr Sigman, a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, that a growing lack of adult authority has bred a 'spoilt generation' of children who believe grown-ups must earn their respect.
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