janr@tekecs.UUCP (Jan Rowell) (08/23/84)
I'm not an expert on the history of child-care advice, but as far as I know, Dr. Spock has never apologized for anything except being sexist in assuming that women should be the primary parenting figure and that girls and boys should be treated differently by their parents. To my knowledge, Spock *didn't* recommend reasoning with 2-year-olds (an admittedly hopeless effort!). He did recommend being firm but pleasant and following the baby's lead in matters such as feeding schedules. This was a real switch from the very rigid "child- care experts" like Watson who, in the decades before Spock, were telling parents to feed their babies every four hours no matter what, shake hands with them at bed time. I have a baby care book from that earlier era and it makes me really sad to think of parents and babies suffering from trying to follow such ridiculous advice. At any rate, Spock started moving things in a better direction, and he was never as permissive as many people now blame him for being. I think some of Spock's bad press came from his having been an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War, and some people tried to associate the excesses of young radicals with Spock's child-rearing advice. From my readings of his stuff, his model for good parenting is a parent who can be authoritative -- rather than either authoritarian or permissive. I don't know where the real extreme Summerhill-style permissivism -- e.g., don't place any limits on the kid or you'll stunt his unfolding persona -- really comes from. I know someone who is extremely permissive. Ironically (or logically?) enough, she's a very gentle person with a four-year-old who is an absolute terror (eg, biting, extreme displays of temper).
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (08/27/84)
Spock DID apologize and DID remove the permissive claptrap from his book. The early 1960 editions of his baby book did advocate the Summerhill approach. Spock removed the information in the late 70's when he changed his mind and apologized through the media for any problems it may have caused. T. C. Wheeler