By Dr James Dobson
Many parents, perhaps most, admit to losing their tempers and screaming at their kids from time to time. Usually we shrug it off, assuming not much harm was done.
Deep in the woods of the Solomon Islands lives a tribe of villagers who practice a strange form of logging. When a tree is too large to be felled with an axe, they bring it down by yelling at it repeatedly.
Eventually, the tree dies and falls to the ground. “It kills the spirit of the tree,” they say.
Well, I’ll admit that I’m a bit sceptical that this practice works on trees, but I’ll tell you this much: It will surely bring down a human being.
If you want to kill someone’s spirit, yelling is a great way to get it done. And no spirit on earth is more fragile than that of a child. It’s humiliating and it’s discouraging to children, and it often leaves scars that will last a lifetime.
Admittedly, children will be irresponsible at times and get on our nerves every now and then. Still, they deserve and need to be treated with dignity and respect. Resist the temptation to yell at them.
From TODAY, Voices
Monday, 13-April-2009
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