ABSTRACT
I have recently had a number of letters from parents about a problem as old as parenthood itself—that of how to get children to obey us. The ways of the nursery need to bear some relation to what will be asked of our children in later social life. It would clearly be a mistake to train our children in ways of behaviour that would unfit them for the demands of the larger world, no matter how easy that made life in the nursery itself. And yet, of course, they aren’t yet responsible beings, and we can’t treat them as if they were. What we ask of them has to be suited to their needs and powers at each stage as they grow. We should probably all agree about this in a general way; the problem is to see quite clearly what is the best thing at each stage.
