John's Articles
Respect Is Claimed, Not Owed by a Father
Posted on 12/26/2017
Is a father owed respect from his children? Actually, the question, from a father, was rhetorical: Isn’t a father owed his children’s respect? The dad in question maintains that because he loves...
Read MoreEvery Child Has a Mind of His Own
Posted on 12/6/2017
In a letter to the editor of the La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune, psychologist Afton Koball and two colleagues raise objections to a recent column in which I asserted that one can be parented badly...
Read MoreOvercoming Bad Parenting
Posted on 10/31/2017
I was standing in the lobby of an auditorium in which I’d just spoken, talking with a small group of attendees, when a 30-something woman took me aside and told me that her parents were bad role...
Read MoreShift in Paradigm Derailed Child-Rearing
Posted on 10/18/2017
I am sometimes asked if I think the “parenting pendulum” is swinging back, however slowly, toward where it was sixty-plus years ago or at least toward a tolerable middle point. ...
Read MoreTreat Kids Like They're No Big Deal
Posted on 9/20/2017
I am a member of the last generation of American children who were no big deal. No one made a big deal over me, ever. Not my mother, my father, or anyone else. For my parents, raising me properly...
Read MoreA Little 'Vitamin N' Can Go a Long Way
Posted on 7/12/2017
I call it “Vitamin N.” It is the word children need to hear most, but it is currently the word children hear least. It is arguably the most character-building word in the English language, but...
Read MoreAmerica Needs a Parenting Retro-Revolution
Posted on 6/21/2017
I was honored to be a guest on my good friend Dennis Prager’s syndicated radio program the other day and as anyone who is familiar with my point-of-view on parenting matters will appreciate, much...
Read MoreUpside-Down, Inside-Out and Backwards Parent-View Disorder
Posted on 6/13/2017
Many of today’s parents suffer (and suffer they do, albeit a good number seem to feel their suffering is a sign of conscientious parenting) from what I call “upside-down, inside-out and backwards...
Read MoreAn Open Letter to American Parents
Posted on 5/2/2017
Dear American Parent (hopefully, you will recognize yourself), It’s high time someone reminded you of the adage “The road to ‘Hades’ is paved with good intentions.” I...
Read MoreKids Are Happiest When Obedient
Posted on 4/25/2017
Q: I’ve read enough of your writings to know that you believe children should be obedient, that they should do what they are told. I want my children to think for themselves and to question...
Read MoreBring Back Vocational Education in High Schools
Posted on 4/11/2017
During my sophomore year at Proviso West High School in Hillside, Illinois, my guidance counselor, Mr. Gusloff, refused my request to take auto shop because I was, he said, college-bound and my...
Read MoreFamily Travel Tips
Posted on 3/30/2017
Here's a strange practice: Two adults, married to one another, work at difficult jobs for 50 weeks, thus earning a two-week vacation. To reward themselves for their efforts, they arrange to spend...
Read MoreThe Fundamental Rules of Parenting
Posted on 3/28/2017
Q: You seem to blame all of America’s parenting woes on mental health professionals and imply that if parents still raised kids as did people in the 1950s and before, they wouldn’t be having the...
Read MoreChildren Need Adults Who Are Worthy of Being Paid Attention
Posted on 3/21/2017
Once again, a reader proves that parenting must be added to religion and politics as verboten subjects for polite conversation. A column I published back in December of 2016 went viral...
Read MoreHome Alone: Is Your Child Ready?
Posted on 3/9/2017
For some folks, the phrase "latchkey child" rings of parental neglect. Yet, unlike in the movies, most kids who are left unattended in an empty house do just fine, emotionally and otherwise....
Read MoreMake American Parenting Great Again!
Posted on 3/8/2017
The problem in American parenting is the 1960s. Among other things that defined that very interesting decade was the replacement of rationality by emotionality. It was during the 1960s that the...
Read MoreManners More Important Than Resentful Child
Posted on 1/25/2017
“People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.” So said 17th Century French mathematician and philosopher...
Read MoreIn a Family, Parents' Relationship Comes First
Posted on 12/28/2016
I recently asked a married couple who have three kids, none of whom are yet teens, “Who are the most important people in your family?” Like all good moms and dads of this brave new...
Read MoreAccommodate Dietary Choices During the Holidays?
Posted on 12/14/2016
Q: My husband and I are looking forward to hosting our children and grandchildren over the Holidays—or were. We were recently informed that our 30-something daughter and two of her children...
Read MoreWhen Enough Is Not Enough
Posted on 12/6/2016
The following true story was recently related to me by a credible individual who for obvious reasons will remain forever anonymous. I pass it on because it is a quintessential example of the...
Read MoreDo You Suffer From Egalitarian Parenting Syndrome?
Posted on 11/30/2016
Some of the sources that inform today’s parenting do not come to immediately to mind when one thinks of raising children. Take Karl Marx (1818 – 1883), for example. Along with his buddy Friedrich...
Read MoreThe Effects of 'Parenting' on Child-Rearing
Posted on 10/5/2016
In 1971, a psychologist named Fitzhugh Dodson published a book titled How to Parent. It did so well that he came out several years later with How to Father. By 1971, Dodson was one of a handful,...
Read MorePostmodern Psychological Parenting Is Causing More Harm Than Good
Posted on 9/27/2016
In the late 1960s, America came to a fork in the parenting road and took the road never traveled. My generation did what no generation in any culture at any time in history had ever done: we broke...
Read MoreAlthough the World Is More Complex, There Is No Need for Parental Anxiety
Posted on 5/31/2016
“Puzzled Grandma in the South” recently wrote to “Dear Abby” asking “Why is there so much angst today over raising children, especially in young mothers?” Grandma has observed that moms of her...
Read MoreUnconditional Love and Leadership Can Change a 'Bad' Child
Posted on 5/24/2016
True story: I sent one of my more recent books to a radio talk-show host who, in turn, gave it to one of her “readers,” asking him to extract appropriate questions. Said reader, a...
Read MoreIt Is Not a Parent's Job to Solve All of a Child's Problems
Posted on 3/29/2016
Q: We have a 7-year-old son and two girls ages 9 and 6. The girls are gifted academically and athletically. He simply can’t keep up with them. They’re even better at bike-riding. As a result, he...
Read MoreParents Opposed to Sleepovers Should Reconsider
Posted on 3/22/2016
Q: My husband and I have decided that we do not want our children to participate in sleep-overs. We recently moved to a new community and are just making new friends and meeting new families. All...
Read MoreToday's Grandparent's Deserve Well-Behaved Grandchildren
Posted on 2/23/2016
A recent article on grandparenting.com says that many baby boomers are experiencing difficulties in their relationships with adult children, including “not enough time together, not enough regular...
Read MoreParenting Disagreements Fracture More than Just Marriages
Posted on 1/19/2016
A journalist asks, “Why do today’s parents seem to be having so many more parenting difficulties than did parents of previous generations?” There is more than one answer to the question; or,...
Read MoreBoys Bathing Together
Posted on 12/22/2015
Q: My 7-year-old recently had his 9-year-old friend over to spend the night. At their request, I let them take a bubble bath together. I supervised, of course. They had fun squirting one another...
Read MoreParenting Memes
Posted on 12/15/2015
According to Wikipedia, a meme is "an idea…that spreads from person to person within a culture". A meme is analogous to a mental virus—although not necessarily bad—that “catches on” relatively...
Read MoreParenting Experts Part III
Posted on 12/8/2015
This is the third and final installment of my “Wrong Things Experts Have Said (and Still Say)” series. Thus far: I’ve debunked the myth that a consequence must be delivered immediately in order...
Read MoreParenting Experts Part II
Posted on 12/1/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond This is the second installment of my three-part series on wrong ideas disseminated by so-called parenting experts. All three columns will be posted...
Read MoreParenting Experts
Posted on 11/24/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond The subject of today’s lesson is so-called experts who don’t know what they’re talking about. As the reader might already have...
Read MoreIn the Good Old Days...
Posted on 11/3/2015
In the 1960s, as part of an overall, culture-wide paradigm shift, a sea-change took place concerning our collective understandings concerning the rearing of children. The two fundamental questions...
Read MoreIt's the Little Things That Count
Posted on 10/27/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond It’s the little things that count…always That’s true when it comes to being a citizen, an employee, and a spouse. It’s also true of being a...
Read MoreQuick Questions from Parents
Posted on 10/20/2015
A collection of “shorties”—questions from parents that require less than 100-word answers: Q: Can you tell me why my 34-month-old daughter is throwing so many tantrums? A: She...
Read MoreA Q&A with John Rosemond
Posted on 10/13/2015
A composite of recent questions posed to me by journalists, along with my answers: Q: What is the biggest problem in American parenting? A: The marriage not lasting much past the...
Read More5 Tips for Teaching Your Child Humility
Posted on 10/6/2015
A mother who attended a recent presentation during which I described the differences between high self-esteem and humility writes asking “What should my husband and I be doing to help our children...
Read MoreAct Like An Authority Figure
Posted on 9/22/2015
The following statement is true: A child’s natural response to the proper presentation of authority is obedience. The following statement is also true: Most of today’s parents—I’d...
Read MoreParadoxical Parenting Principle
Posted on 9/15/2015
One of the problems I occasionally struggle with is that of giving unsatisfactory answers to people’s questions. By that, I mean answers I know are unsatisfactory in the sense that they do not...
Read MoreADHD and Diet
Posted on 9/1/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond In America, the go-to guy on ADHD is Dr. Russell Barkley, whose impressive credentials include psychologist, clinical professor of psychiatry at...
Read MoreMore on Attachment Parenting
Posted on 8/18/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond In a recent column, I referred to “attachment parenting babble,” which is to say, I called a spade a spade. The column in question concerned...
Read MoreMaking a Change
Posted on 8/4/2015
This is a story about how quickly parents, if they are determined enough, can make significant change in parenting policy. The family in question consists of two boys, ages 9 and 8,...
Read MoreLowering the Boom
Posted on 7/7/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond One of the most common of complaints from today’s parents is “we’ve tried everything.” They refer, of course, to having tried numerous approaches...
Read MoreThe Very Essence of Effective Discipline
Posted on 6/9/2015
Two months ago, I conducted a two-day small-group “parent retreat” during which I talked about, among other things, the legitimacy and power of “because I said so.” One of my missions is to...
Read MoreAdults, Especially Moms: Keep It Interesting!
Posted on 5/27/2015
My mother was a most unusual woman for her generation. She divorced my father when I was three, went to college and eventually obtained a Ph.D. in plant morphology when women were not heartily...
Read MoreGrandma Needs Advice
Posted on 5/12/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond Q: My husband and I need your advice. We are parents to one adult daughter who has three children ages 10, 7, and 4. They live about three hours away...
Read MorePerhaps There is Still Hope!
Posted on 4/29/2015
A list of some of the more memorable elements of pre-1960s parenting is in constant circulation on the Internet and is especially popular with people my age who can for obvious reasons relate. The...
Read MoreUse Proper Authority with Teens
Posted on 4/21/2015
Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond Q: Our son is going to be 13 next year and we’re trying to be proactive about the coming storm. He’s been a good kid and relatively easy to raise to...
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