Today let’s take a look at question 11, in month 5, of “The Ten”. Here’s the question:
Some child therapists today tell us that parents should not try to force good behavior (I.e. administer corporal or force punishment, but instead should try to work on the heart so that behavior will follow. Is this Biblical? Is it fallacious? Explain and Discuss.
I’m glad this is a discussion question, because there has certainly been some about it. For clarity and precision, let’s change the question, for our podcast discussion, to this:
Some psychologists today tell us that punishment for bad behavior (all punishment, but particularly corporal punishment) is counterproductive to the development of good character in kids. Is this Biblical? Is it fallacious? Let’s discuss this on the podcast.
I want to always be correct and clear in the study. I believe the original wording of the question was probably unfair to the vast majority of child therapists, who, in the very nature of their work, are modifying behaviors in children through therapy.
So let’s go with version number two, as stated here. Perhaps you can find examples of this philosophy as you research. It does not take long to do so. Maybe we will even have some child therapists chime in on the podcast on January 26th. Their ideas about how behavior, thoughts and feelings all work together to make for positive change might be helpful to many of us as we try to parent Biblically. We have some great therapists among us.
