Rearing Children in Love and Righteousness :: Relationships Parenting Papers

Rearing Children in Love and Righteousness â€Å"Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, . . .[and] to teach them to love and serve one another† (The Family: A Proclamation to the World,  ¶ 6). This statement by The Proclamation proclaimed to the world of the responsibility parent have for their children – to teach them right from wrong. In today’s world less and less parents are the principal caregiver and teacher in a child’s life. The Proclamation firmly places this responsibility squarely on the heads of the parents. Yet even with this knowledge, the application of how to â€Å"rear their children in love and righteousness† could be debated. Many parents (even amongst members) have differing opinions on how children should be disciplined and taught. Is spanking considered abuse? Or is it excusable under certain circumstances? Should time out, or bribery be used to coerce kids to obey, or is it a combination of both? Many people have ques tioned what types of punishments are â€Å"righteous† and which ones are not. Here I want to discuss these things and find out what is the most popular belief among college students. Then we can go to our text, â€Å"Strengthening Our Families: An In-Depth Look at the Proclamation on the Family†, and discover what General Authorities and scholars in the field of Sociology and Child Development teach. In this way we can talk to others and inform them on, and maybe call them to reflection about their opinion and on the teachings of the leaders of the church. When I was growing up, my parents believed in punishing a child who had severely disobeyed with spanking. Learning quickly at a young age that I did not like this, I was only spanked two or three times after which I built up the determination never to do anything deserving of spanking again. It scared me half to death and I despised it as a child. I have seen my older sisters, as they are currently raising their children, use spanking as a mode of punishment – sometimes it works, other times it seem to have little affect. I decided to ask my roommates and friends how their parents had disciplined them and what they thought they would do with their future children.