Quotation

[bunsen_h]

Don't forget that one of the main pleasures of childhood  is rebellion.  If you are too permissive with [your children], you'll force the poor blighters to turn to drugs and abortions in order to rebel.

— David Nobbs, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
 

Comments

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

Presumably there are *some* limitations that parents should impose that are more serious than taste in the arts? In the novel, Reggie Perrin was writing the advice to his daughter and son-in-law, who felt that toilet-training their children was infringing on their freedom, and in other ways were letting them develop towards being little monsters.

[batyatoon]

Oh, there are obviously quite a few limitations that parents should impose. But that reasoning for it is nonsense. It's not about what the kids will do in order to rebel, it's about what kids will do if left entirely to their own devices.