On the WCSH evening news March 1, a short segment was introduced with this statement: “An alarming rate of Maine children are getting ‘kicked out of preschool.’ Why, and can it be prevented?”

To us, this is not surprising at all. Modern social scientists have convinced society that children are basically good and we should not inhibit their “goodness” by discipline. This has left us with a sorry mess, yielding young children who are undisciplined and unhappy.

Without discipline, children will not respect authority. This yields unruly children. Some young children lash out at everyone and everything trying to get someone to put the needed restrictions on them. These actions are often driven by the fact that young children desperately need discipline.

Children are all different in that some are easy to discipline and others are far more challenging. However, they all need discipline from their parents. If they don’t get it, they will behave badly at a very early age. Without discipline, there cannot be respect. The earlier discipline starts, the easier it will be for parents to do a good job.

The modern thinking has left us with spoiled children, which often leads to selfish adults. The natural progression yields marriages that end in divorce. The breakdown in family is one of the great disasters of our time.

When a child is disobedient or defiant, we believe the child needs to be disciplined/spanked and learn to be obedient and submit to authority. Discipline yields children who know someone loves and cares for them. They are likely to be happy children. There needs to be the right balance of discipline with love.

In the discipline process, the parent not only disciplines the child, but also reassures the child that he or she is loved. It is time to recognize that the society-driven permissiveness has not worked.

Leonard and Ruth MacPhee

Falmouth