Reasonable Discipline: A Literary Examination

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Charles Foran’s “Kids R Hell” presents an array of experts’ analysis on parenting values concerning child discipline (with Foran’s input on the inaccuracy of each one). He postulates, “To approach every disciplinary decision with the thought that it may prove permanently injurious to your child's wellbeing or your own self-worth is to invite madness into your house.” Ridiculing parents who condemn ever physically punishing children, Foran espouses that a slap on the face when a child misbehaves displays severe implausibility of traumatizing that child or labeling the parent as a child abuser; in addition, he finds the notion of never using corporal punishment preposterous and a sure way not to succeed in disciplining children. Of course, for some parents, such as Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe’s Thing Fall Apart, the line between necessary physical force and child abuse becomes blurred, while for others, such as Reb Saunders from Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, the use of more creative methods of parenting seem favorable. Their unconventional means of parenting—either stemmed or influenced by their occupations—cease in effectiveness when each son becomes older; however, because Reb ultimately dissipates his clearly faulty imposition of silence, while Okonkwo stubbornly keeps his narrow-minded bigotry, one father redeems himself, whereas the other never speaks to his son again.

A lamentable baseball accident, in which Danny nearly blinds Reuven’s left eye, prompts the apologetic culprit to visit the impaired victim—commencing an enigmatic friendship between two people of two rival Jewish sects. Reuven notes that Danny, the son of rabbi Reb Saunders, “dressed like a Hasid, but didn’t sound like one.” To an external degree, Danny’s att...

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... never be one of authoritarianism but, rather, one that a former child can grudgingly admit (when reminiscing about his or her punishments) seemed fair. The difficulty, however, lies with the parent’s ability to determine a reasonable disciplinary mean.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1959. New York: Random House, 1994. Print.

Didato, Salvatore V. “Are You Tuned in to Teens?" The Big Book of Personality Tests. New

York: Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2003. 72-74. Print.

---. “Can You Spot a Troubled Child?” The Big Book of Personality Tests. New York: Black

Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2003. 69. Print.

Foran, Charles. “Kids R Hell.” Saturday Night. 109.10 (Dec. 94 / Jan. 95): 123.

EbscoHost. Web. 5 June 2012. .

Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. New York: Random House, 1967. Print.

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