James Dobson
James Dobson
James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr.is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family, which he led until 2003. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesmen for conservative social positions in American public life. Although never an ordained minister, he was called "the nation's most influential evangelical leader" by Time while Slate portrayed him as a successor to evangelical leaders Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson...
ProfessionSelf-Help Author
Date of Birth21 April 1936
CityShreveport, LA
Sometimes we're so concerned about giving our children what we never had growing up, we neglect to give them what we did have growing up.
If you let a child know that you think he is lazy, sloppy, untruthful, unpleasant, and thoughtless, he'll probably prove you are right. Obviously, it is much better to make him stretch to reach a positive image than stoop to match one at ground level.
Ain is a marvelous purifier... It is not necessary to beat the child into submission; a little bit of pain goes a long way for a young child. However, the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely.
If a woman plans to terminate her pregnancy, she commonly refers to the life within her as the 'fetus'. But if she intends to deliver and love and care for the little child, she affectionately calls him 'my baby'.
Loving discipline encourages a child to respect other people and live as a responsible, constructive citizen.
Some strong-willed children absolutely demand to be spanked, and their wishes should be granted. . . [T]wo or three stinging strokes on the legs or buttocks with a switch are usually sufficient to emphasize the point, 'You must obey me.'
No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.
Children represent God's most generous gift to us.
'Dare to Discipline' was published in 1970 in the midst of the Vietnam War and a culture of rebellion. The book was written in that context, but the principles of child rearing have not changed.
The footsteps a child follows are most likely to be the ones his parents thought they covered up.
Real crying usually lasts two minutes or less, but may continue for five. After that point, the child is merely complaining... I would require him to stop the protest crying, usually by offering him a little more of whatever caused the original tears.
Traditional Judeo-Christian values literally hang in the balance in America. They can be 'forgotten' in a single generation if they are not taught to children and teenagers... It could happen here if we don't defend what we believe.
We Americans are living a lifestyle of exhaustion. We don't have time for ourselves, much less for each other and our children.
We are so busy giving our children what we never had that we forget to give them what we did have.