The problem today with parents — specifically mothers — is that they have become fearful of their children, according to John Rosemond.
“My generation was the last generation of children to be afraid of women. Our mother’s successfully intimidated us and we came to school thoroughly convinced that women possessed a legitimate power,” said Rosemond, a syndicated parenting columnist who took part in a seminar Thursday in Gainesville.
“Today’s mothers don’t want their children to be afraid of them. If anything she’s intimidated by her child. All too often if a child misbehaves, today’s mother doesn’t know who to correct — herself or her child.”
Rosemond, whose column appears Mondays in The Times, was speaking at the Lakewood Baptist Church Worship Center at the invitation of The North Hall Community Education Foundation.
“This is the first time that we’ve done this, but we hope to bring in other speakers,” said Jean Ellis, event organizer and former foundation president.
“Our foundation focuses on education and we invited (Rosemond) because we think that education and parenting go hand-in-hand.”
Rosemond said he agrees with the connection to parenting and education. In-school behavioral issues would decrease and academic achievement would increase if parents went back to traditional parenting methods, he said.
According to Rosemond, parenting took a turn for the worst in the 1960s when parents began turning to psychologists and other professionals instead of their elders for parenting advice. That shift, Rosemond says, created generations of parents who were told that children should never be ignored and that if children misbehaved, it was a reflection of their mother’s poor parenting skills.
“My mother used to tell me, ‘John Rosemond, my job is to teach you how to stand on your own two feet and you can’t learn that standing on mine,’” said Rosemond.
“The 1950s — my generation — was the last decade when children were raised sanely. Mothers back then saw parenting as one of the things they did. I don’t think today’s women have been given permission to carry that relaxed view on parenting.”