Thomas Sowell. Little Things

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The following is from Thomas Sowell. Barbarians inside the Gates. pp. 20 - 22

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Little Things

SOMETIMES LITTLE THINGS give you clues about big things.

The other day, I was practicing tennis at a local playground, with the aid of a machine that fires the ball over the net to me. A little boy whose father was practicing on the court next to me became fascinated with the machine.

The little fellow, about four or five years old, started walking over onto the court where I was playing—on the side of the net facing the machine.

"No, no," I said, "that's dangerous."

The little boy kept walking onto my court, facing into the machine, which was still firing tennis balls in various directions as it turned from side to side. His father said nothing.

"That's dangerous!" I repeated, as I put down my tennis racket and started toward the other side of the net to turn off the machine.

"Michael, why don't you come on back?" the father said.

"I'm going to have to leave," I said to his father, "because this is dangerous."

"No, we'll leave," the father said. "Come on, Michael."

"No!" Michael said, still staring with fascination into the machine as it continued turning and firing tennis balls.

"Oh, Michael, come on," his father pleaded—but still without making a move to go get him.

By this time, I had reached the machine and turned it off. Only then did Michael lose interest and leave with his father.

After this little experience with the modern middle-class parent in action (or inaction), I went home and read in the paper about a local teacher who had won a teaching award. Was this because her students had learned more than other students? Not at all.

Her greatest claim to fame was that she concentrated on giving her students "self-esteem." She didn't believe in a lot of academic demands, grading and homework. All that might have hurt the little darlings' self-esteem.

For all I know, Michael may have been one of her students. Certainly he was far less likely to have his self-esteem hurt by his father than to have a couple of teeth knocked out by a tennis ball shot out of a machine. If he got closer and was hit in the eye, he could have lost his sight in that eye.

On that evening's television news, one of the lead stories was about students at the University of Wisconsin rushing onto a football field, breaking down the barriers and injuring several of their fellow students in the crush. A police woman on the scene said that it was impossible to physically restrain a mob of that size when they get carried away.

Of course it is impossible to control everybody. That is why people used to teach their children self-control and obedience to rules and authorities. Today, that kind of talk only gets you a condescending smile, at best.

Our award-winning teacher had a sign on her classroom wall saying, "Question Authority." Today, there is barely enough authority around to question.

This mushy abdication of responsibility to instill discipline is not peculiar to the United States. Young British soccer fans have become notorious for crossing the channel and creating riots at international soccer matches on the continent.

About 1,500 years ago, barbarians from continental Europe invaded Britain and took over. Today, British soccer fans are getting their revenge.

While many civilizations have succumbed to the onslaughts of barbarian invaders, we may be the first to succumb to the onslaughts of barbarians growing up in our midst. Every child born into this world today is as uncivilized as the cave man. If nobody gets around to civilizing him, that is the way he will grow up.

All the lofty talk about the "root causes" of crime fail to notice the obvious: People commit crimes because they are people—because they are innately selfish and do not care how their behavior affects other people, unless they have been raised to behave otherwise or unless they fear the criminal justice system.

The same people who are undermining the notion of imposing either internal or external restraints on children have also been undermining the prosecution and punishment of criminals. They have succeeded all too well on both fronts.

We will all be paying the price of that success for a long time to come.

What is amazing is not that we bought some of these modern theories that became fashionable back in the 1960s. What is staggering is that we have not reconsidered after 30 years of watching the consequences.

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Whether all people are born innately selfish and indifferent to how they affect other people I don’t know — but one thing is for sure: A child must be instructed and discipline firmly applied when necessary. If a young child is not taught how to behave and discipline not applied to insure correct behavior, many children will adopt wrong outlooks, attitudes and values and self-destructive ways of behaving to their own future detriment. That is how children grow up to be personal failures and juvenile delinquents and criminals.

I believe everyone is born with a conscience and knows right and wrong from birth. But children need to be taught — and have right and wrong behavior firmly implanted in their minds. The right values, outlooks and ways are found in the Bible. The Bible teaches physical discipline:

Proverbs 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but

he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Proverbs 19:18 Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let

not thy soul spare for his crying.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and

when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child;

but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Proverbs 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for

if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. {14} Thou

shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from

hell.

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child

left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

Proverbs 29:17 Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest;

yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

The modern psychologist and psychiatrist has done an enormous amount of harm in our modern world and a great deal of that is in connection with their very bad advice on child-rearing. I think we can thank the psychologist and psychiatrist for a great deal of our juvenile delinquency, criminality and mental health problems.

2 June 2024