FREE: Laying Down the Law by Dr. Ruth Peters

The listing, Laying Down the Law by Dr. Ruth Peters has ended.

This Amazon review sums up this book.

If you're looking for a "squeezy, feely" book about how to get your children to be "good people", this is not the book for you. But if you're having problems getting your children to do homework, clean their rooms, do chores, and generally behave, Dr. Peters has a lot of good advice for you.
Peters takes a real life approach to raising children. We have a society that rewards good behavior and punishes bad behavior. We get paid for work, we go to jail for breaking the laws. She proposes that we set up this same philosophy at home.

The main theme of the book is that a parent is a "benevolent dictator". No matter how much you want to be your children's friend, your job is to be their parent, to discipline them, to get them to do the right thing, even if they do not understand the philosophical reasons for doing this.

For example, education. She says that a child is not going to understand the value of an education versus being popular. They will, however, understand that they will receive rewards when they get good grades and be punished when they get bad grades.

And her ideas for rewards and punishments are very sound too. We have been using the "chip" system she suggests in the book and it is working splendidly. Children are rewarded for having a "good day" with poker chips that can be cashed in for money, clothing and electricity. Yes, television, video games and even radio time must be paid for. And punishment includes giving away prized possessions to homeless shelters and other children's programs. Yet, knowing that children do not always behave, there is leeway to misbehave "some" and still have a "good day."


Like new condition. I ready through it once and put it on a shelf.