The Good News About Bad Behavior: Why Kids Are Less Disciplined Than Ever—And What to Do About It

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the publisher - The current model of parental discipline is as outdated as a rotary phone. Today's parents live with an exhausting reality: persistent defiance from children. About half of the current generation of children will develop a mood or behavioral disorder or a substance addiction by age eighteen. And many parents feel increasingly unable to exert any influence over their children. In our highly connected age, the all-powerful parent is largely a thing of the past. In this book, journalist and parenting expert Katherine Reynolds Lewis proposes a radical solution: empathy. As she journeys from parenting seminars to neuroscience labs to schools to the homes of modern parents, Lewis documents a crisis of self-regulation--and shows how children rise to the occasion when their parents learn to trust them, let them face consequences, and train them in the art of self-control. She watches as chaotic homes become peaceful, bewildered teachers see progress, and her own family grows and changes in light of new ideas. You'll recognize your own family in Lewis's sensitive, realistic stories, and you'll find a path to making everyone in your home more capable, kinder, and happier--including yourself.

I am a bit of a Monday morning quarterback here when reading this book as I deal with kids every single day who I think "WHY AREN'T THEIR PARENTS CONTROLLING THEM????". Well, maybe they cannot control the kids as the kids cannot control themselves. Had I acted anything like the examples given in the book I would still not be able to sit down (at age 50) ... I was expected to BEHAVE and I did. Mostly.

Kids are so over-stimulated these days --- to see a toddler only behaving in a restaurant because they are playing with an iPhone or an iPad is, well, sickening to me... why not a book if they need to be distracted? But why do they need to be distracted? Because they are not used to doing NOTHING. I live near an Amish/ Mennonite community and those are the best-behaved kids I have seen in decades... why? Is it because they are not online all the time on social media? Or because it is instilled in them to practice self-control and behave? .... that is the crux of this book. Step 1, IMHO? Kids learn from their parents, but if their parents are doing work emails texts, etc. all the time, Mom and Dad and the kids need to learn to PUT THE DEVICE DOWN. Step 2 - learn to self-regulate and practice self-control ... Mom and Dad, again --- buying someone a treat who is screaming their head off is bribery ... don't do it! If this seems too outlandish, read this book... well, read this book anyway as it will change all of your lives for the better.