In our show “Desiguales” on Univision, we talked about the so-called “glass generation.” This was the first time I heard that. It is supposedly the current way we raise children. Before, we were supposed to be stronger and we gave them punishments and rules. And now, what is in fashion is to let them do whatever they want. So, children protest very easily; they want to be left free.
“If you want to touch things and break them, that is one way to learn,” they say now. However, I totally disagree. I don’t know who invented the glass generation, but they are wrong.
A child who grows up without rules and doing whatever he wants will do very badly in life. Every human being has to obey rules and accept that, at some moments (or many), he will not be able to do what he wants. Those who do so are criminals, people without rules who have become accustomed to doing their own will, without respecting others.
These people will have many problems, because real life is not like that. Life teaches, through problems, that you have to respect your parents, the police, the laws of a country. If not, you will end up in prison and, in the long run, no one will want to be by your side. You will become a person who only thinks about yourself, hateful and selfish.
Therefore, it is terrible not to set rules and limits for a child. If bad behavior is allowed to grow, it is like throwing spaghetti into hot water.
How should you discipline your child according to age? A five-year-old child is not the same as a two-year-old child, or a young teenager. They are different disciplines.
A small child needs clear rules that he understands. And always explain the why. When my daughter Estefanía was little, she fell in love with a very expensive glass figure that I had on a table that she came to when she was two years old. She spent hours looking at it —and looking at me— because she knew she shouldn’t touch it. And she would cry until she understood the message.
Children should know that there are things they cannot touch. Not in their own home or in someone else’s home. Not only because they can break them, but also because it can be dangerous. If it’s a knife, “No, you don’t do that.” And you explain why: “It can hurt you, cut you and bleed. If you have to be taken to the clinic and stitched up, that hurts.” Then, children understand that this behavior has consequences. You must always do it, not one day yes and the next no.
You have to be consistent and firm. It is not about mistreating the child or insulting him, but acting firmly. If you start saying “no” but get fed up and then say “yes,” that child will never do what he should and will become a nuisance to others.
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