Love is not enough, kids need discipline  

Bringing up your children’s the most important thing you’ll ever do. Forget trying to be rich or famous. It’s setting your children off on the right path that really counts. But how do you do that?

Some people believe that all you have to do is to love your children, and then they’ll automatically grow up into happy human beings. Real parents will pretty soon tell you that’s not nearly enough!

Because children also need discipline. And sometimes you have to lean on them pretty hard. Because children only ever want to do what’s fun. So you have to be a spoilsport quite a lot.

Endlessly being told about other parents who let their children do whatever they want! Give kids an option and they’ll always be watching YouTube rather than doing their maths homework. But watching videos won’t pay the bills when they grow up.

And asking them gently probably won’t stop them fighting, or get them to tidy their room, or stop playing computer games.

So you have to use your authority. Why? Because you know best. Children generally don’t understand why you want them to do the right things. So you have to insist.

INSTILL VALUES

Some people think that all children are fundamentally good. But the reality is that there’s aggression, cruelty and violence in everyone. That’s why it’s so hard to teach children to behave well. And not break other children’s toys or hit them.

Many parents believe that you just need lots of after-school activities, educational trips and extra tuition to guarantee their children’s success. But that’s not true. It’s more important to teach children to work hard, and to be resilient and persistent.

So good parents are good role models. They show their children good values: like trustworthiness, honesty and kindness. They show them how husbands and wives love one another. They show them how successful adults control their impulses, work hard, and believe in their own abilities.

They show them that they value education, by taking an interest in their children’s school work. Then their children will study well. They help them learn to make good choices, for example by encouraging them to do their homework before turning on the TV.

Because when people learn to make good choices as children, they’re better able to make the really tough decisions that we all face later as adults.

Good parents always do what they say they’re going to do. Because it’s their consistency that teaches children to be responsible. Good parents are always flexible but firm.

They have clear expectations for their children’s behaviour and conduct - at an early age - and they enforce them. They’re warm and affectionate, but retain their authority and stay in control. Do all that and your family will have a good life.

And so in their turn will your children! Well adjusted, and socially skilled. Resilient, achievement oriented, mature and responsible. And the next generation’s most successful adults.