Reddit reviews Parenting Young Children: Systematic Training for Effective Parenting of Children Under Six

Read a book! Find one that you like. There are some popular ones I disagree with but I like this one. It's short, simple, and explains how to discipline and why to do it that way.

My mother has developed this bad habit of telling me to spank my sister or telling me to "get" her. I thought this was ridiculous and I didn't know how to respond.

I told my therapist about this. I said in the past I spanked my sister but I wasn't proud of it. That didn't stop me from getting a long lecture about how spanking is wrong. He was very insistent, saying "you can't spank her no matter what!" He actually said "all the studies done say that spanking heightens aggression."

He laid out a different punishment technique. At first it was hard to understand, but in the end it became coherent. He also recommended Parenting Young Children, along with the two other books in the series. He said "these are old books, but the principles are still confirmed and the same today".

I'm aware a pop psychologist, stephen pinker, has said many parenting studies are useless, because they don't measure for heritability. He actually proposes that more aggressive parents spank their children more and the genes cause their aggression, and that more intellectual parents read to their children and that causes them to talk early.
First I'd just like to ask about psychology and spanking. Is spanking universally regarded as unacceptable among psychologists? Is all the evidence one way?


The other question is about the book. Was the book recommended of a particular school of thought? could someone explain that school and contrast it with others?

I feel I should add I'm against spanking for reasons other than my therapist listed. Thank you for reading.

Former teacher of toddlers here. Check out the STEP positive discipline program. It's geared towards parents, however, I was trained in it for the classroom and all the same rules apply. The book is super cheap on Amazon and breaks down causes of behaviors and how they should be approached by age. Best of luck

Amazon - Systematic Training for Effective Parenting