A child whose life is full of the threat and fear of punishment is locked into babyhood. There is no way for him to grow up, to learn to take responsibility for his life and acts. Most important of all, we should not assume that having to yield to the threat of our superior force is good for the child's character. It is never good for anyone's character. John Holt
About This Quote

It is never good for anyone's character. In this quote, Dr. Spock said that a child who has to fear punishment has been locked in a childish stage of their lives. They have been taught to be dependent on adults and feel the need to be obedient from a young age.

If they are not, then the child will feel the need to be punished and that will cause them to live like a child long into adulthood. The best thing we can do for our children is to educate them about the world and teach them how to make their own decisions. As adults we should show our children that we love them and we want the best for them, but we must also let them know that if they make poor choices, then they will suffer the consequences.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. A DEFINITION NOT FOUND IN THE DICTIONARY Not leaving: an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children - Markus Zusak
  2. When God Created Mothers"When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of "overtime" when the angel appeared and said. "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one." And God said, "Have you read the specs on this order?"... - Erma Bombeck
  3. The soul is healed by being with children. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  4. The only love that I really believe in is a mother’s love for her children. - Karl Lagerfeld
  5. I don't remember who said this, but there really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child. - Anne Lamott
More Quotes By John Holt
  1. Only to the degree that people have what they need, that they are healthy and unafraid, that their lives are varied, interesting, meaningful, productive, joyous, can we begin to judge, or even guess, their nature. Few people, adults or children, now live such lives.
  2. Leaders are not, as we are often led to think, people who go along with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see, whether anyone is following them. "Leadership qualities" are not the qualities...
  3. This idea that children won't learn without outside rewards and penalties, or in the debased jargon of the behaviorists, "positive and negative reinforcements, " usually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we treat children long enough as if that were true, they will come to believe...
  4. A child whose life is full of the threat and fear of punishment is locked into babyhood. There is no way for him to grow up, to learn to take responsibility for his life and acts. Most important of all, we should not assume that...
  5. If I had to make a general rule for living and working with children, it might be this: be wary of saying or doing anything to a child that you would not do to another adult, whose good opinion and affection you valued.
Related Topics