Arguments Around Spanking
Watch: Bringing Up Boys
Mm-hm.
Watch: Screaming at Trees and Children
Many parents, perhaps
the majority, admit to losing
their tempers and screaming at their kids
from time to time. Usually we shrug it off assuming that not
much harm was done. But is that
really the case? Dr. James Dobson,
per family time, deep in the woods of the Solomon Islands
lives a tribe of villagers who practice a strange form,
the blogging. When a tree is too large to be filled with an axe, they bring it down
by yelling at it. Tribesmen believed to have special powers sneak up on the tree at dawn and scream at the top
of their lungs. Day after day, they
repeat this practice. Eventually the tree dies and falls to the ground. It kills spirit
of the tree. They say, well, I'll
admit that I'm a bit skeptical of this practice in that it works on trees, but I'll tell
you this much. It'll sure bring
down a human being. If you want to kill
someone, spirit. Yelling is a great
way to get it done. And no spirit on Earth is more fragile than
that of a child. Though we mean
no harm when we scream and Shattuck kids. There's nothing
harmless about it. It's humiliating and it's discouraging
to children. It often leave scars that will last
for a lifetime. Now admittedly, children will be irresponsible at times and they're
going to get on our nerves every
now and then. Still they deserve
and need to be treated with dignity
and respect. Resist the temptation
to yell atom. Dr. James Dobson
profoundly talk.
Watch: Bringing Up Girls: Puberty & Adolescence 1
Dad, why don't
you introduce our topic for today, which should be of importance to all
our listeners, but especially
those who have girls approaching the teenage adolescent years. A good place to
start. Ryan, Let me begin by reminding
our listeners that we erred in interview with Heather Anderson
and her father, Dr. Charles Stone, who
wrote a book together called daughters gone
wild, Dad's gone crazy. And they described
now Heather had men, this sweet and loving and delightful child
until she turned 12. And suddenly she
became a rebellious, almost a tyrant who hated yourself, hated her family. And what followed were four or five years
of turmoil in drugs and sexual
experimentation and misery for the
entire household. Now, when I program ended, we really out of time and I promise to come back
to this subject and offer a likely
explanation of what was going
on in heather. What would cause a
happy child from a good family to
suddenly become just impossible to handle and hateful to
everyone she loved. And that's why we're
going to do today. We're going to talk
about that subject not only as it relates to
Dr. Stone and Heather, but in countless
other families that have experienced something similar and are in many cases going
through that right now. Well, we saw that play out over and
over again, doctor, just on a simple
facebook poll that we conducted
last week, where we asked
parents to identify their biggest concerns with their daughters going
through this stage, listeners can
still weigh in on that pull at my
family talk.com. But let's get right
to the heart of it. How do we explain what those teenagers like Heather are experiencing? Well, it's a very
important topic because every parent eventually deals with
it one way or another as their youngsters come
through adolescence. But obviously in a case that was a difficult
time for her socially. And she talked in your book and on our program about hurtful harassment that she was subjected to in school, especially about
her physical body. Now, as tough as that was, and I don't minimize
it for a minute. I think that was just
the backdrop for the behavioral
problems that she began to exhibit. It's likely that
her great anger and her agitation at home and at school as well was a reaction to the
onset of puberty, which is a
dramatic period of sexual maturation
and awakening that typically begins about
that time between 1112 or 13 years of age and girls happens in girls earlier than it
does in boys. Now, I don't want
to be too technical here and I'm concerned
about doing that. But we really do need
to talk about what happens in the brains of girls in early adolescence. Puberty is set in motion by chemical
signals that are emitted from a
remarkable area of the midbrain called
the hypothalamus. And when the time is right, this gland sends out hormones to in
particular LH and FSH, that are then received
by the pituitary, which is also in the brain. It's an aspirin
size structure that sits right at the
base of the brain. And that despite
its tiny size, it's been called the
master gland because it influences and controls the other glands
of the body. And most importantly, sends chemical messages
that flow to the ovaries and
causes them to produce massive
amounts of estrogen. So that's that's chemically
what's going on. So what you're
saying is there is a physical
biological reason for a lot of the upheaval that these
parents are saying? Absolutely. And
if you try to explain it only in terms of social pressure and the other characteristics
of adolescence. You won't really get at it. Because there's something
else here that is absolutely driving
those emotions. Now that estrogen that is emitted by the ovaries flows through the body, through the blood, and marinate the female brain, which stimulates maturation and sexual development. So it's, it's a feedback mechanism
that goes from the brain to the
ovaries and then throughout the whole body and all the glands
of the body. Everything is
affected by it. And from this
transformation comes the miracle
of ovulation, which makes
procreation possible. And what some people
consider to be the curse of menstruation. It's a shame that
it's described that way because it's part
of the miracle too, but that is the
way it's viewed. Now, estrogen
also influences a multitude of
functions and emotions and I would
like our listeners to really pay attention to what I'm most
say right here. Those emotions include
anger, sorrow, joy, memory, aggression,
thirst, weight, fat distribution which
rounds out the body. And the development of secondary sex
characteristics such as pubic care and
breast development. In short, these
hormones bring about a complete makeover of the body and the
personality. Everything changes
in response to them. They will never be
the same again. They in fact, I
wrote in my book, so brace yourself,
Mom and Dad. When you see these
little green buds appearing on your
little girl's tree, you know that childhood
is over and she's growing up and there's no backing up on that road. But that road between there and adulthood is often very, very rocky. Dad, did it changes really occur that suddenly,
as you said. Well, let me modify
that just a bit. Hormones begin to
have an effect on a little girl at about
eight years of age. But parents may not notice them because they're
very subtle. But when your daughters
are about 12, that changes
are undeniable. They're dramatic,
and it can be like fireworks on
the fourth of July. Let's take a look
at that from the girl's point of view. Tell us what you
would imagine a 12 or 13 year old
girl is starting to think herself when all of this is
happening to her. Well, it's very
important for parents to get a fix on the
answer to that question, because once these developmental
changes begin to occur, they can be deeply disturbing to a girl
who hasn't been told what's happening to her body because it's so bewildering as
she can worry herself sick about
soar breast buds, do I have cancer
or ministration? Am I bleeding to death? And other fears that are associated with these
physical changes. That's why it's so very important for parents to prepare your daughters for puberty and adolescence. Don't let him to
just wander into that time without any understanding
of themselves. Not only should
they come to understand the approaching
physical changes, but they should
also be informed of these wildly
fluctuating emotions that will accompany
this time of life. And especially this is, this is very important
and I put it in my recorded series, preparing for adolescence. Doubts about personal worth are inevitable
during that time. It must be anticipated and explained in advance when you begin to feel worthless,
nobody cares. I'm a total failure. I'm ugly. I'm, I'm not acceptable to
the opposite sex. Those things simply go
with it and it's part of the anger that
Heather was expressing. So when I said that, what happened to Heather in sixth grade when the boys were making fun
of her body? That that was the backdrop. She wouldn't have been
able to deal with that better three years before or five years after. But you put those
things together. You have this sensitivity in this vulnerability, along with harassment
from peers. Boy, you've got you got a volatile cocktail
hour to well, even hearing the
name of your book, Dr. preparing
for adolescence, that's a key point and
I'm thinking as a mom, I don't really want
to have to introduce my child to those concepts until I see them
hitting them. Like I'm thinking of
someone listening who has an eight or
nine-year-old and their, their little
girl is carefree and happy and
frolicking along. And what you're
saying is OK, you need to sit
them down and say everything is kind
of rosy right now, but you need to know
some things are coming. That feels a
little like I'm sharing your
innocence and I don't really want to introduce that to her at Luann. Timing is absolutely
everything. And I would never recommend anybody doing this. But if you go out to a railroad track
and you put your ear down to the track. You can hear the
train coming. If you're paying attention, you can see puberty coming. And you want to time this explanation
immediately prior to all these
questions coming up. And you want to begin preparing them for the stresses
associated with this, because it can
be terrifying. They can be terrifying
and it can also assault a very personhood. You may remember in preparing for
adolescence that I talked about the
canyon of inferiority. You're driving
along on a road. And i'm like a man beside the road
with red flags and I'm waving them
and I'm trying to tell that teenager
with that series, be careful the bridges out. And if you keep going
down this road, you're likely to fall
down into that canyon, but you don't
come out of it. You don't come out
the other side. It just goes with
the territory. Doctor you just referred
to Heather Anderson. They're in the program
we aired last week. Let's go back to
that just a minute. So are you saying that her personality,
her anger, that self-hatred,
and the meanness, a lot of that was
hormonally driven. The answer's yes. Although once again, I
don't want to minimize the pressures that are
on teenagers socially, them being accepted,
being rejected, all the things that,
that they go through at that time is also
part of the problem. But what we heard described in that
recorded interview last week is classically characteristic of
puberty itself. The hormone barrage
that initiate puberty is highly traumatic to the female brain. This is the point I
hope parents will grab onto because it can draw a girl into complete disequilibrium
until she begins to adjust to it. And that may take
several years. Let me read
something again from bringing up girls that I think will be helpful. I said that this is white parents must
take the time to understand what a girl
who's gone through from Pew best sense
through adolescence, there will be recurring
times, meatiness, anxiety, anger,
self-pity, depression. There will also be
periods of giddiness and Glee and elation
and happiness. Emotions are on a roller coaster
from the peak to the valley
from one day or one hour to the next. The entire family
sometimes hangs on for dear life until things
start to settle down. For some girls, the
return of a calmer water, calmer sailing can take
five years or longer. And in the meantime, surging levels
of estrogen and progesterone
will continue to affect the behavior
and the personality. They have. The
female brain. Parrots, rock
and everything that you've just described many households out
there right now going, I think Doctor
Dobbs and has visited my house right now. That's what it's like
you've said it before. Just get them through it. Something else in
the book, dad, you quoted a lot from a book called
The Female Brain, which describes the chemical process
of what's going on in the girl's brain
when she's being besieged by estrogen
and hormones. Why did that book stand
out to you so much? Because I think it is the very best book on this subject
that's been written. Who? Dr. Bryce and Dean is the author,
Luann Bryson dean. She is a psychiatrist, a Yale trained
psychiatrists. And she knows what she's
talking about than I did lean on her
a lot in my book. Let me read a quote that
came from this book once again as Dr. LouAnn Bryson Dean and her book is called the female brain. And she's describing what an adolescent
girl is like in the midst of all
these hormones. She says, drama,
drama, drama. That's what's happening
in a teen girls life. And in the teen girls
moraine, quote, mom, I so totally
can't go to school. Just found out Brian
likes me and I have a huge zip than
no can sealer. How can you even
think I'll go? And the next one, homework, I told you I'm
not doing any more until you promised to send me a way to school. I can't stand living with you one more minute and no, I'm not done talking
on the phone to IV. It has not been two hours and I'm not getting
off the phone. This is what you get if you have a modern
version of a teen girl brain
in your house with this new estrogen
driven reality, aggression also
plays a big role. The teen girls brain will make her
feel powerful, always right, and
blind to consequences. Without that drive, she'll never be
able to grow up. So it does play a
role in development, but getting through it, especially for a teen
girl, isn't easy. As she began to experience her
full girl power, which includes pre
menstrual syndrome, BMS, sexual competition, and controlling
girl groups. Her brain states can
often make her reality. Well, a little hill, that doctor, I
got a kick out of you trying to act
like a teenage girl. You gotta put a whole lot more white under that. You gotta have all the act and believe me,
I've heard it. I've heard of
that I may not be able to duplicate. I'm not sure the
always right thing stops at the teen years. I think that make it
into I gotta be honest, after hearing
you read that, I am even more happy that Lincoln as a boy,
I was before. Well, I wouldn't be too self-congratulatory
about that. Ryan, the boys have
their own set of weird emotions during
puberty that's adhered. Or at least I understand. And I've gone through
well, it was right. Exactly. In fact,
that if we have time, I'll share a few things
that you can expect. In the years to come, I talked about that and
bringing that boys. So we are focusing kind of unfairly on girls
today, on women today. But there's a
counterpart here. And I don't know which is stuffer boys get
crazy to and do things that but
their very lives in jeopardy and will do equal time here eventually. Doctor, as you're
reading that, I know I am
instantly thrown right back into
my fifth grade. I was a little younger in my class and I was more
of a late bloomer. So I remember
watching these things happen with all
of my friends before I experienced
them personally. And even as
you're describing that, I've got a wonder. Which does personality
play into this? Because don't these
reactions kind of vary from
person to person? Yes. And you said
you were young and that plays a role too. I can identify with
that Luann because I lived in a neighborhood with boys a year
older than me. And I was accepted by them all through childhood. But they went into
puberty before I did. And that was extremely
disconcerting to me and painful to me
because they've gone up and I hadn't
they have gotten their growth spurt in. I wasn't and that they also didn't accept me
for a period of time. And the seventh,
eighth grades were the two toughest
years of my life. I've talked about
that before. That's the reason
right there. The timing of this
is everything. But let's let's go specifically to
your question that according to a report issued by the National Institutes of
Mental Health, approximately ten to
20% of teen girls experience what
they called a continuing state of crisis. That's physical, emotional, and
mental in nature, only ten to 20% have that extreme that you're talking about.
That's right. The stress hormones,
especially cortisol, surged through the
body and the brain. In some girls much
more than others. And approximately 80 to 90% of the girls they journey through these early
adolescent years much easier than I've
described today. It's really important for people to understand that not every girl goes
through the same thing, we are all different. But the truth matter is, it's really a matter
of degree because most pubis and girls struggle one
way or another, and so do their parents
and siblings as well. Once again, it's a
matter of degree. You've emphasized
the word timing. When it comes to
puberty, dad, some girls start early,
stem go start late. What determines
that process? And when it starts? Well, basically it's
genetically controlled. When the time is right. The hypothalamus
begins barking orders to the pituitary
gland and off we go. But there are
other factors that affect the menarche or the first menstruation
in girls. And there's some just fascinating
new research on this subject. For one thing, the better
than attrition and the general
health in a child that earlier the
onset of puberty. This is why both
boys and girls are developing earlier now
than in times past. And listen to these,
these numbers. I don't want to overwhelm everybody with figures, but this is important. The menarche in Western
nations dropped from 17 years in
18.83212 in 1962. American record show
that it was 14.6 in 19.119502013,
12.5198012.2 in 1992. So the perception that kids are growing up
earlier today is valid. There's another
factor that just fascinates me and this
is fairly recent news. When a girl has a very close relationship
with her father, he meets your needs. He affirm, sir. He tells her she is pretty she is
everything to him. Puberty is delayed, hum. And when he is abusive, are sometimes absent or aggressive with or
are in any way, is not what she
needs him to be. She grows up sooner
and no one knows exactly how that
mechanism works. But apparently
it is driven by the fact that a girl
who is not happy at home may very well be into a love relationship sooner in order to
get out of there. And her body begins
to prepare her for in that
incredibly thing, a little disheartening to the single moms
listening right now. But that reminder that you've always
said of how important it is
to have that male role model in the home. Yeah, you have to
find a substitute, whether it is a grandfather or a neighbor, or a coach, or an uncle, someone who can be
a father figure to that girl because
there's a need there which a mother
cannot satisfy. Well, it's kind of like a creator knew what he was doing when he created
the Mom and Dad. I mean, I cannot
tell you how many times we've said that
in the greenhouse when I've looked
at my kids and I said and Steve and I
disagree on something. This is why you have a dad and a mom because we bring the complete package
together and what we've been talking about
today is miraculous. Yeah. I mean,
it is wonderful that children are children as long as they are. That was God's design. But Paul's ID, when
I became a man, I put away childish things. So there is a time to make this transition and it's
all done chemically. And again, it's wonderful the way it takes place, but the transition
is tough. I mean, we, we have to admit that it can be tough. It can be some of this research that
you've uncovered, doctor is absolutely
fascinating. You have put Obviously, Well, as we know Ryan, three years at least
worth of work into this. I gotta tell you, I have questions
flooding my mind. I'm sure other
people do too. We'd like to address this on a second day
of programming, which we will
return to tomorrow. There's a lot
more here, Ryan. There really is. God bless. Thank you all for
listening and we'll see you next time for another edition of Dr. James Dobson Family Talk.
Watch: Bringing Up Girls: Puberty & Adolescence 2
Well, Luan dead. I thought the Family Talk program we aired yesterday provided some of the most most interesting and
useful information on adolescent behavior
I've ever heard well, I did to Ryan
at my youngest, my four has now entered
the teenage years. So all four of mine have experienced or
are experiencing that. And I knew some of
this information, but I tell you there was a lot more that he shared, which I'd never heard
before and would have been pretty
helpful. Oh, yeah. And if anybody that didn't hear yesterday's program, you really ought
to get a CD and we're offering
that one. And today's broadcast complimentary, if
you'll just call us, it's 87773268 to five. And of course,
people couldn't get a copy of my dad's new book bringing up girls. What's contains even
more information related to the subject
on these two programs. You know, dad, we plan to deal
with puberty and adolescence on just one broadcast, which
was yesterday. But really you
can't do that. There's just too
much good content left on the table. And it's not fair to parents or
people that are going through that just
to stop with one day, why don't you
talk about for those that didn't hear yesterday or need
a refresher, summarize yesterday's
broadcast and then we can get
into today's. I'll do that, Ryan, we were discussing the neurological and
hormonal changes in girls that accompany
the onset of puberty, which have a
profound impact on behavior and on the
self-concept than this, why we talked
about last time, it all begins with
a small gland called the hypothalamus, which sits in the
mid-brain area. And when the time is right, according to genetics, to hormones are released, which stimulate
another small gland, the pituitary, which in turn tells
the ovaries to start producing massive amounts of the hormone, estrogen. Estrogen then
floods the body and especially
the female brain, and sexual maturation is thrown into high gear. Now, I hope that real
quick explanation of something that's
really pretty complex didn't
lose everyone. But the essence
of it is that almost every aspect
of the body is affected by the
changes that occur in response to
these powerful hormones. And the onset of those biochemical
changes is called puberty
while I'm doctor. So that's kind
of as you said, the biological, the
medical aspect to it. But as we saw last time, there's also an
emotional aspect which is highly volatile
for several years. Speaking as the
female at this table, I speak from
personal experience. Those emotions can
go up and down. I don't want to hear from my mom and dad right now. Will you read a paragraph
from bringing up girls yesterday
that really does explain this very well. Why these youngsters around the 12 to 15 year age can be highly unstable
emotionally. Can you just share
that with us? I'd be a good
place to start. That paragraph
is on page two. Oh, one of my book and
this is what I wrote. Moms and dads should
understand that the hormonal barrage that initiate puberty is
highly dramatic. As some might
even say, toxic. To the female brain, and it can throw a girl and a complete
disequilibrium until she begins to adjust to it. This is why
parents must take the time to understand what she's going
through and it's why we were
talking about that yesterday and again today from Pew best sense
through adolescence, there will be recurring
times, meatiness, anxiety, anger, self-pity,
and depression. There will also be periods of giddiness, Glee, elation, sorrow, joy, aggression,
and happiness. Emotions are on
a roller coaster from the peak
to the valley. From one day or one
hour to the next. The entire family
sometimes hangs on for dear life until things
start to settle down. For some girls,
the return to equilibrium can take
five years or longer. In the meantime, surging levels
of estrogen and progesterone affect behavior and personality
dramatically. They have the
female brain and parents rocking
and reeling. Now, this is what
makes puberty so challenging and exciting
to both generations. And they, it sure helps if you understand
what's happening. Your precious
daughter, Mom and Dad, is growing up, and
that's a good thing. Without it, She would continue to be
a little girl for the rest of her life. Will doctor, you
described it very well. Is that roller coaster and I'm going to tell
you as a mom or dad, it's very easy
to just want to disengage during this
whole transformation, just back off and wait until this is
all blown over. Yeah, and many parents
do that and they think that's what their son or daughter wants them to do, but cause there's so
much anger between them. But that's not the
best approach. In an earlier chapter, bringing up girls
had talked about something that's
extremely important. It's called
Attachment Theory. It is thought to
explain more about child development than any other understanding
attachment theory. I hope our parents out there will take the time
to read about that. The essence of it is that during the first
three years of life, it is critical that babies and
toddlers quickly bond with their mother's first, and then a little later on, what their fathers and this connection forged
between them is highly relevant to everything
that comes after even one's health at 40 years of age or older, is linked to the
presence or absence of a successful attachment during the preschool years. And I don't have time to describe this in detail, but it relates
to what we're talking about today. But it also explains why the last word uttered by a dying soldier on a battlefield is
often mother. There's emotion attached
to that statement. Now, let me return to your question because
we really haven't answered it yet
about the role that parents should play when puberty is in high gear? What is expected of them? What would be best
for the child. I answered that question in my book on page two, O2 and that let me read it. What does a girl need from her parents when everything has gone topsy-turvy? They answer in a word, is more attachment,
not less. Well, we just said that some parents tend
to pull back, but actually
your preteen or your early teen needs more connection
with the parents. Even when she is
most unlovable. She needs love and connectedness
from her mother, but also from her father. She needs them
to be as calm, mature, and
parental possible. There's no room in
the relationship for an out-of-control,
screaming, confused, and scared adolescent, a voice of reason
is desperately needed even with
a child who has become entirely
unreasonable. I know this is
difficult advice to receive or or to implement because
pubescent girl can be absolutely
maddening. But she typically has
little self-control and certainly doesn't
need a mom with the same problem. We mentioned last time that approximately ten to 20% of adolescent girls are in a long-term crisis mode because of the biochemical changes that are occurring. And they need all
the stability they can get from
their families. Strange impulses are
urging them to do things that make no sense
to a rational mind. And many of them can't help responding
the way they do. Dad, you talk
about how teens seemed to be pushing
parents away. And yet, this is the time where parents
need to engage. They really need
to be in there and pouring themselves
into their lives. How do you reconcile? Or even work in the atmosphere where
it's just you're getting rebuffed over
and over and over. Well, in your head, you still know they desperately need
your involvement. That's the trick. That's the challenge
of parenting because it is a
contradiction, as I said, at
the same time, that puberty and all those
biochemical changes are causing girls to pull away from the
people they love, especially those at home. Other forces inside
them are creating an inexplicable longing
for connectedness. Just as estrogen drives the need for
intimacy in infancy. It has the same
effect in puberty and adolescence only this
time it's more intense. The desire. Social bonding,
especially with peers but also with parents, creates great
vulnerability. This is why
adolescence travel in packs is to protect
themselves. And the most
paralyzing fear for girl in those years is the prospect of
being left out and rejected and criticize
or humiliated. I mean, that's a fate
worse than death. Even the most
minor criticism from parents can
produce a tsunami. The tears and, and retribution and slam doors. Overreaction becomes
an everyday event. Heaven help the mom or dad who tries to convince a sobbing girl that it's no big deal, they're wrong. Everything is a big
D. It really is. We asked parents
on our family talk Facebook page to tell us what their
greatest concern for their kids were. And we got an
overwhelming response. And really most of
them is about peers. It's my six-year-old,
already shows signs of needing approval from her peers. My 10-year-old looks to her friends and
celebrities, base her life on what
can we do about that? Because they're
looking at kids who are in the
exact same boat. They're all trying to
get the approval of their peers and they
go crazy doing it now. And the hearts of parents are
broken when they see their youngsters
suffering and hurting over
rejection and so on. To be wounded
by a boy can be a fate worse than death
to a vulnerable girl. And that's because during puberty
and adolescence, the most urgent biological impulse
track this, parents write this down, make a mental note of it. The most urgent
biological impulse is to be perceived as
sexually desirable. There's a hormonal
base for that, but that's what
a girl wants more than any thing else. You wanted to think about their grades in school and the desk that's coming up or keeping a room clean. She has another
preoccupation datas that why the dad relationship at this time is
so important. It sets the example and the bar for other boys. If he is saying,
you're beautiful, your special, you have value going on
daddy daughter dates. Isn't that curbing
the desire, the need from
boys her own age? And it is in fact, meeting some of that need. I've said that
several times on the broadcast here
in recent days, that the father is the first man and a
little girl's life. He's the first one
who can come in and affirm her from a masculine point-of-view. To tell her she's
pretty, to teller, he loves her and to elevate her in
her own eyes. That is extremely important because to some degree she is meeting that
ache inside that. If he doesn't do it, then she's gonna go find an answer to it elsewhere. And that can lever very vulnerable
spot with boys. But this explains why girls spend hours in front of mirrors examining and fretting and training, and rearranging
and enhancing, and wishing and
caking on makeup. Most don't like
what they see. It's sad that most
don't in this culture, you know, and
it is cultural. I was just in Orange
County, California. And there are billboards all over the place for plastic surgery and
women and you've got an underweight
surgically. They say enhanced,
but it's really not a skewed warped view. A female and it says women, you should be dissatisfied
with how you look. You should be unhappy with how you were born and
your natural body. And it tells men that you ought to be
expecting something different and it warps that relationship
and be so tough to be a female in southern California
right now and other places around
the country. In fact, that because
of the Internet and television and movies and
everything else, that's taking hold
everywhere to some degree. Believe me, believe me, very young girls
in second, third, fourth, fifth, great. Hear those voices. Yeah, they know
all it takes is, is one boy who's
important to him to make a joke out of some aspect of their physical body. And I mean, it burns
through to the So I just saw a study that
says If you ask boys what one of their
best attributes is, it will be an ability. They possess,
something they can do. If you ask girls that, they'll tell you
about a body part, you realize how
demoralized can add has to child. And then when you are 13, and these hormones are impinging on brain
and the body, and you're not
invited to the party. And this sixth grade that everybody else
is invited to. I mean, to tell you
the you develop scars that will follow you into the adult life. Now there's, there's
no easy answer to this because we live in a culture that is distorted, it is warped. It evaluates human
worth on the basis of things that the individual had nothing to do with it. It just happens to be. And when you see
your youngster just suffering because
of some deformity, perhaps in a wandering eye or certainly
straightening teeth and things of that nature. I think as a parent, you ought to step
in and help and to not acknowledge
it and listen when the girl or the
boy crying and not show that you care is a big mistakes or sweat. You can also go too far in that direction where
plastic surgeons get an opportunity to rebuild a face just because somebody is not yet
developed and so on. As I just said, it's not an easy thing to deal with, but it's something
that parents need to be aware of and help where help is needed
and especially when so many parents are going the other direction, they're allowing too much plastic
surgery and things to an underdeveloped or
not fully develop teen. And you've got
your daughter or son same but
so-and-so is getting this and I don't like this and
you've gotta be that strong foundation
for them saying You are perfect the
way you are created? Yes. Some parents.
Give breast augmentation On
the 16th birthday, for example, which
is absolutely crazy for your kid and every kid they come
into contact with. Yeah. You know, it's not just your child that's
being affected, but it's everyone there around. Luann and Ryan. There's so many subjects here that we could spend the entire broadcast or two or three talking about. If we're going to cover some of the more
important things, we'd better keep
moving. Well, let's do. And like we said, so much of this is complicated by all of these hormones that are surging as
you've described. One of those hormones
is oxytocin, which is just fascinating to me. Describe
how that work. Well, we have to talk
about the oxytocin because plays such a role during the adolescent
years and beyond, because it's almost
miss Civitas in its influence and its
stimulated by estrogen. But it has a nickname, it's called the
cuddle hormone. And you can figure
out where that leads when a girl
gets to know a guy and feel safe within her, oxytocin
levels rise. And it gives her a rush
of hope and trust and optimism and confidence and a feeling that all our needs are
going to be met. And she may start to
fall in love with him are something that feels like love for awhile, but not because he's the perfect human being
as she, thanks he is, he's perceived as the
perfect human being, but cause she starts
to feel like it. It's the other way
around and hugging and snuggling cause oxytocin
levels to surge, which leads to more
hugging and snuggling. Uh, you know, you talk
about a tender trap. Well, it's a bonding
mechanism, isn't it? It is our biochemistry
is designed to guarantee the
continuation of the human race. Now another aspect
of oxytocin, which is fascinating to me, is that new mothers are flooded with the stuff. And it's why a mother
who does not even know this squiggly
little baby that's put in her arms, falls madly in
love with him, sometimes in a matter
of an hour or two. I mentioned last
time a book called The Female Brain by Dr.
LouAnn Bryson Dean. And she says, and I quote from an
experiment on hugging. We know that oxytocin is naturally released
in the brain after get this now, after a 22nd hug
from a partner, sealing the bond between huggers and triggering the brains
trust circuits. So don't let a guy hug you unless you
plan to trusting. That's what it
comes down to. And I I wrote in my book, do you think you can help your daughter understand
this hormone? I said no chance. You only have to
hope her boyfriend doesn't know how
it works either, because a 20-second hug gives a girl a
sense of trust. That's not what
you want her to have when she's just getting acquainted
with somebody. And that's why. Dad, appropriate touches so important at this age
because she's trusting Him more and she's bonding with him
more and allowing him to influence her life in a positive direction. And now with that
information, right. And we have to go back to something that I said, I believe when our daughter DNA was here and
we were talking about the
relationship between girls and their fathers
and how there is a tendency in early
adolescence for dads to pull back physically from their daughters who are starting to round out, starting to become
more of a woman. And it makes them
uncomfortable. And so instead
of hugging her, as he's done when
she was younger, he is now leaning away and we call it the
Leaning Tower of Pisa. She is aware that
he is not as physical with her
as he was earlier, and she misses it. And furthermore, she
watches her father with a younger daughters
in the family. And that has not
changed for them. They still climbing
in his lap and all over his shoulders
and everything. But for a Pew best girl, that's missing and she needs that chemical
response Day. And it's precisely
when boys her age are paying more
attention to her. Yeah. That's 2.5 for some girls or boys or not paying
attention to them. And therefore they need their dads affirmation
and love even more. You know, I talked in the previous program
about the ache, the longing that a girl fields for that
connectedness with her dad. And I'm telling you
if it's not there, she's a sitting duck. For some guy who's
motives may not be honorable to come
in and meet that need. And that happens millions
of times a year. Well, this is why
the steadiness of apparent during this
season is so important. You talked about that
you need to be mature. You need to be
steady while they're going up and down and
she pushes you away, you need to be rock solid. But ironically, doctor,
some moms these days, especially are
finding it a little hard to be rational.
Explain that. That's absolutely
true, Luann, and let me explain why. But cause the onset of puberty is occurring
earlier today. And we've, we've talked
about that last time. And because women are
tending to marry later, it's not uncommon
for mothers to be going through
the stresses of minute pause at
the same time that their daughters
are entering the age of sexual
awakening. And the proximity
of those to volatile hormonal
experiences within a family can indeed cause a train wreck
between generations. Physician Nancy
Schneiderman, who is an author and she's done a
lot of television. And her teen daughter experienced just
that collision and their relationship. And it led the
doctor to write an outstanding book called Girl in the mirror. And in it she observed that in previous
generations, those pivotal journeys have been separated by time. But the simultaneous
occurrence of two highly charged
hormonal phases adds another dimension to the mother-daughter
relationship and it often creates calf fights between
generations. And all I can say
is dads beware, maybe ought to get out
of dodge every now. But I said in
the book and I, it's really true that
I was teasing there. In reality, fathers
are extremely important in the
midst of that chaos. And sometimes they can provide the voice of
reason on be a referee. When you've got two women in the kitchen
kind of thing. One last thing.
Who don i MAS FAA not my favorite, but A's long time
radio shock jock. And he once told
his audience that as the father of
four daughters, Anna, husband to an
emotionally wired wife, he never experienced
that day and the month
when someone in his house wasn't either kicking a dog or
slam the door. That's a funny. Even
though don i MAS says a way of irritating me and just about
everybody else. But the point
here is, doctor, keep your sense of humor. If you can maintain
your sense of humor throughout
all of this, the days will be
a little easier. That's true. And if people would like
a copy of yesterday, today's broadcast, we would love to give you a copy. No charge to you.
Just give us a call at 877 7326825. Ryan, I got a letter yesterday from a
woman who asked that you give that number
twice because she can't write it down at the speed that Utah No problem. I'll do that and give the website. It's 87773. Two sixty eight
twenty five. The website is Dr. James Dobson.org.
God bless. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time for another edition of Dr. James Dobson, family tough.
Watch: Raising Boy: Routine Panic 1
Thanks for tuning into this edition of Dr. James
Dobson Family Talk. I'm Luann crane here
with Ryan Dobson, and our host is
Psychologist and bestselling author,
Dr. James Thompson. Well, lewin, It's
the author part that will be
treated to today. A lot of listeners first heard about
my dad through his writings
long before they started listening to him
here on family talk. Titles like Dare
to discipline the strong well-child. Neither I might say
were written about me. Alright, just
make that clear. Maybe. Now over the past 2.5 years
on Family Talk, we've talked a
lot about one of his recent books,
bringing up girls. And today we felt
it's about time. We talked about
the counterpart to that book, bringing up boy, which actually
had a huge impact on us and the crane
home, Ryan, I mean, literally altered the
course for one of our sons several years
ago when we first read it and I can still remember staying
up in bed past midnight and finishing it and thinking, this is it. We are making some
changes around here. Well, it was one
of the fastest selling books he's
ever written. And parents are desperate
for information. I am. You are
all parents are. And that's why I spent some time a while ago recording this material in a couple of live audience sessions. He likes to interact
with people like this. And what we're
going to be hearing today was recorded
in a group setting with about a 175 adults
and something he calls routine panic and Ryan as the mother
of three sons, I tell you that
sometimes describes it, but this whole topic really fascinates me and hits
quite close to home. I know listeners will appreciate this as well. And just this no, after Dr. adopts
and addressed this groupie reserve some time at the
end for a brief Q and a with the audience, and we'll be sure
to include a few of those
comments as well. Here now is our host,
Dr. James Dobson. Well, we have been talking about
bringing up boys, the subjects for my book, been talking about how they are unique,
how they think, how to raise him properly, and how to make the most of their
masculinity, how to have boys
know that they are men or can become in. And it's a very important subject
and one that I really enjoy talking about a loved
writing this book, but it's also a fun
topic to deal with. Now what I wanna do
today is talk about the adolescent
experience and how it relates especially
to their fathers. We'll start there
and then go on from that point
to talk about the relationship
with their mothers. When I was 17 years of age, my father bought a new car. It's a big deal
in our family, as big deal in
our little town. Bought a 1953 Ford. It was beautiful. It was blue-green. I loved that car and my dad allowed me to drive it one day, which
was a mistake. I was 17 years old, had been driving
very long and it was lunchtime and
asked him if I could take it to go
get something to eat. And he said Yes,
so I took off. And on what date and when I was coming
back and noticed that the my fellow students who were
on the street, you know, it was lunchtime. And so there were a lot of kids out there and this gave me a great
opportunity to show off. And I just thought
it would be also a great opportunity
for me to test a theory about physics that I had always wanted
to investigate. Say, I had seen a guy named Joey chip would
at the State Fair. Joy was the evil can
evil of that day. And he was flying
through the air with these cars and that seemed like a pretty
neat thing to me. And I figured
that I might get that car off the ground too if I did it right. And in our little town, there were two big
bumps at the corners to accommodate
the flash floods that came through town. And I thought if I hit those fast enough,
I would fly over. It made sense. Joey did it. Why couldn't I do it? And so I backed up
about three blocks. And I mean,
these things are about three feet deep. They were big bumps
on both sides. And so I got going
about 60 miles an hour. And I hit that first bump. And I'm telling
my head went into the headboard and the
whole car convulse. It was I mean,
a front and a back hit the
bottom and then I curated into the second
bump and boom shot. I had no idea that
was going to happen. The whole car shuttered. And my texts, his
friends were awestruck. That Dow's about the neatest
thing they ever saw. They said, look at Day it. He got our Andrey stars. Well, I really
didn't get a lot of our under my tars, uh, but I sure shook up that car and shook
myself up pretty good. And I went on home. I left the car
in the driveway and didn't say
anything, obviously. Didn't tell my dad
about this about oh, I suppose two weeks
later my dad came to me and he said bot, which is what he
call me when he was pretty serious, says Bo, I stick the car and
had it checked, had it serviced, and all four shocks are blown. He said these things
are shredded. And he says, yeah, it's
a new car and shocks usually wear out a
little bit at a time. Dog gone, it just
absolutely shred it. You have any idea how this might have happened? Only thing that saved me was that for a
split second, I couldn't remember
having done it. I mean, that's I
here to killed me. He would absolutely
kill me. So I said no. And
he accepted that. And then about
two weeks later, I got in the car and I was driving off now when a short distance and
the steering post broke off and that the steering wheel
had no relationship to the wheels at all. And I went into a curb and bounced
over the curb. If I'd been gone faster, I could kill
somebody, namely me. And and that was strange new car. Why
would that happen? And it was several months
before I let myself Remember that I not only blue those
four shocks, but I probably cracked the steering post
on that new Ford. And I who knows
how else I messed up my dad's car
on that occasion. Now, by the time I figured out that
I had done it, the statute of limitations
has run on crime. And and I didn't see any reason to
bring it up again. And my dad never
asked me again. And he went to
his grave not knowing that I had
destroyed his new car. So Dad, if you're up there, I'm really sorry and I will never do it again. And you can have my allowance for
the next 20 years. And but it was the only time I ever
got are under my tars. Boys have an ability
to frustrate the very souls
of their dads. And yet, and yet never has it been more
clear than it is right now that fathers and if not father's
father substitute, are absolutely critical to the health and well-being and the development
of boys. Yes, they frustrate
us, you know, they, they lose our cameras, they drop our binoculars, they mess up our
work benches and they frustrate us
and a lot of ways, but they are
critically important. Now, in the 19 fifties, it was believed that poverty caused
juvenile delinquency, gang behavior, young violence
and other things. It was thought that
that came from poverty. That is now discredited. That's no longer
believe it's now realized
that the primary problem with
juvenile delinquency and I used to serve on a commission on
juvenile delinquency at the at the request
of President Reagan. So I've spent a lot of
time studying this. It is now known that juvenile delinquency
and all of the violence and gang behavior
and everything else is caused primarily by the absence of fathers. And in this culture today, that is the case, that's
what's happening. Now why our fathers
so important? The reason is because
of male role modelling. Obviously, a woman cannot teach boy what it
means to be a man. A man has to do that job. One who is committed to
that led to that boy. It needs to teach
him character, needs to teach
him how to work. It needs to teach him how to live an honest life, to be a man of his own word and needs to teach him
self-discipline. Those things are best
taught by a man. Interrelationship
with his son. There are four things that a father needs
to teach his son about the future
responsibility he will hold as an adult. Particularly if he is
in a family situation. All four of these
are controversial. All four of them
are under attack. There's been great
consternation over these four principles, these four understandings. And yet all four of them are linked to scripture. You can find every one
of them in Scripture. And the first is that a boy needs
to understand that he has to be the
provider for his family. Now, that does not mean that his wife may not work. She may make more than he, but the primary
responsibility for the provision
of his family, for the material
needs that his family is rests with the male, the father, the husband,
interrelationship. And this, again is controversial and young people
don't know this. Many young people don't. But it is very common
today for a guy to drive over and
pick up a girl. He may not call before he chooses to come over. He may Hawthorne
and she comes out and they go out to eat or go to a show or whatever
they're going to do, and he expects her
to pay for it. That's not the way
it's supposed to work. And you need to
teach your sons that that's not the way they're supposed to work. The guy is supposed to care for and provide
for the girl. And later is why. The second is the
matter of protection. Now, here again into another very
archaic notion, bony K, the way I was
raised when I was with a girl on a date and we were walking
down the street. I was taught that I was to walk on the street
side near the cars. Why? Because it
was symbolic of my responsibility
to take care of her. You need to tell your kids that he tell you boys that that this is a responsibility that
they're going to have. That scripture refers to our caring about our wives, husbands loving
their wives to the point of death
if necessary, the responsibilities
to care for her. And when you go back to provision or to provide for the apostle Paul said that if a man won't
provide for his family, he's worse than
an unbeliever. It's worse than an infidel. This is an
important principle needed to teach this to your kids and fathers are in the best
position to do this. The third is a matter
of leadership. Boy, you talk about a controversial issue here, but a man is responsible
to lead his family. I'm not talking about
being dictatorial. I'm not talking about ruling with an iron fist. I'm talking about
servant leadership. This is what a man
is supposed to do, and then to care for
and lead his family. The fourth is to be
a spiritual mentor. Family, this is the
man's responsibility. I I can't tell you how many women
have come up to me with a question about family life and said, the most frustrating
thing in our family as my husband will not accept spiritual
leadership at home. And yet, that is a role that he is supposed to, except you can begin to
teach your kids about that ultimate role and how they are to function
within a family. And really, as
I said before, only a man can teach
a boy how to do that. There is a very, very important point here that I hope I
can get across. And it is called detachment and differentiation. In other words,
a boy detaches from his mother and then begins to accept
the role model that he sees
and the father, the father really needs to entice the boy away from the feminine
characteristics in the mother and began to teach him to identify with the
masculine model. Folks listen to
me. It is now believed that
homosexuality is very typically rooted in the failure to accomplish that
differentiation. And when you see individuals who are
very, very feminine, and you go back
and you look at the early child development
characteristics, you will see a failure
to make that change. I've been very blessed from the early days
where the memory of my childhood and would
you believe that I recall that change taking place now couldn't
have used these words and I
didn't understand it. But I knew that I was
pulling back from my mother and toward my father between
23 years of age. And I was born
cesarean section 1936. And my mother was
not able to have any more children
because in those days they thought
you could die if you have more
than one child by cesarean section. So I was an only child and I was the whole
world to my mother. She didn't even
want children before I was born. And once I was born, I became a centerpiece
of her life. And at two to three
years of age, I became aware that she was smothering me
a little bit too much. Can you believe
that I recall it. And one day she had her arms around me,
she was kissing me. And I said to her, I think that's silly. And my mother's a
very bright lady. And she announced
that she got it. She innocently said, so do I. And she backed off. But what was happening
was that I was I was moving away from my mother and
toward my dad. And then my dad and I bonded in a very
different way. That's why fathers
need to be there. When they're
not there, when they're rejecting, when they're harsh, when they're
completely absent. When a work too hard. They're not part
of the scene. It is very typical
during that time for boys to get confused
about that role. And some of them almost consciously choose
to stay within the safety of that
feminine relationship. Instead of doing the
hard work of changing and moving in the direction of a masculine role model. Many men today do not know what it
means to be a man. They don't know what masculinity is all about. And the reason they
don't is they never been taught and they've
never seen it. And in our culture
in particular, everything masculine
is under attack. And there is this
assault on masculinity. Many fathers feel that they should not be
very physical with their boys because
maybe that's the source of homosexuality
and it's not. Do you need to be physical
PyCharm drown and tell him that you level tell me I'm proud of them. Column your son,
you're my son. And are very many people, only three of you or two or one who can
say that, hug them. Fathers, you are in
a very critical role during that period between 18 months
and five years. It will be important later, it'll be important in the adolescent
years as sweet. I talked about
just a minute ago. But especially in that
four-year window, you really do need to be on C. This is Ryan Dobson here and our family
talk studio. And you've been listening
to Dr. James Dobson speaking on the material found in his
best-selling book, bringing up boys,
emphasizing the need for us fathers to be strong role models
for our sons. Now will be featuring more of this message tomorrow. But as we said at the
top of the program, my dad loves to interact
with his audience. So before we wrap
up for today, we just wanted you to hear a few of the comments he took from the
group who had assembled there that day. And here now is the first question from the audience. Yes. I just wanted
to thank you because as a woman who is
dating right now and I'm looking for
my possible mate. It hurts to know
that you have to plan how much money you're going to take with
you on a date. And many times on dates, you don't know if you're going to be protected. And that always hurts.
A lot of times. They refer Well, if
I'm going to pay for this then later on in the night and then just cut to the chase in
the beginning and then you go, okay. You get stuck once
how about twice? Over the same person? Yeah. Would you go out
with that person out? Yes. That's it. Do you agree that you ought to object to that? Do you object to it? I think that I knew better how to I
probably would. Yeah. So you're just
going along as they go along and then not
go out with him again. Yeah. How about those that don't call an advance, but just sorta expect
you to be ready. My mom told me once
You will never let me go out with a guy that
hawks in the driveway. Let's hear it
for her mother. Take the microphone,
respond to this. I'd say the same thing. Why should I heard some stuff when I was
growing up, you know, voice should cut by Monday, at least Tuesday if you're going to go
out by Faraday. And I think that's
really been lost. And I think sort
of preciousness of being taken care of and being appreciated
for who you are and just being valued. I think that's being lost. Let me ask the
guys who here. How would you get
the modulo k? How would you
feel about a girl calling you and
asking for a date? I don't like it very much. I think it kinda robs. Like if a girl called me and was interested
in asking me out, I think it would rob me of just internal
desire to be the one who instigates
relationship. Does that happen? It has happened before in but it was mostly like
with friends and it was never with someone that I wasn't comfortable enough light to say, yeah, we'll go get ice cream, something
like that. But I like also
to comment on just I don't think
all hope is lost. I mean, but like I have
an incredible family, father as one who wasn't just a
spiritual leader. I mean, we, you know, I'm gonna male-dominated
household and me and my brothers
and my dad would just sit around
and just grunt because Escher's
and pressing. We would do this but
at the same time, I would walk into
my parents on their knees by their bed praying for their kids. Yeah. And my father
was one who I could watch him cry and he was one that
stepped out. And not only was
interested in me developing as a male, but he disciple me to
follow Jesus Christ. And I mean, like my dad is the most incredible man
I've ever met. I like that. Meet
your cereal. You really need
to just to see, just to see the kind
of unity in the bond. But man, it, it just, it's encouraging for me
to see that all that, not all hope is lost. We always absolutely,
we're raising out men, godly men in this nation. I'm, I'm excited
about next year. A very fortunate young man. I can tell you that.
Let me ask you this. Were you taught to open
a door for a while? It's like when you're talking about walking
on the curve. And then if you're walking a lady down the
stairs to walk, you step in front
of her, Okay. She stumbles and falls. Are there to catch to
open doors to the car. To Open to open the
door for the car. And they walk around two to open doors to
the restroom, chairs to there are a lot of women like to find you. I got serious journalist, but just let me
ask the others. I mean, this is
wonderful stuff. Tell me, in a
formal situation, we're not talking
about McDonalds now in a formal situation, would you help your
date with her chair? Yeah. I think that would be
a good way of showing respect and consideration
for they are not. I forget a lot of times because either we're
sitting in a booth, what don't you ever
forget it again? And that's our host today, Dr. James Dobson having a little bit of fun there with some of the younger members
of his audience. Ryan, I really appreciated that young man pointing out that all is not lost. I mean, while we
certainly have a lot of ground to make up
in today's culture. There is a crop of
young men out there who've been taught
and taught well, and my hat is off to those moms and
dads while flu. And we also
realized there's a mom or dad listening now, Hussein, oh no,
that's not me. I'm not trained my son to rise up and
act like a man. Well, we're here
to tell you there is still time, right? And you can
start by getting a CT copy of this
presentation or download it
from our website at Dr. James Dobson.org. It'd be a great thing
to listen to with your son and open up
that conversation. Well, even listen to it with your daughter's Ryan, as we heard earlier there, one young lady thank
to your dad for giving your permission to act and think like a woman. So you can see this is just classic
instructional material which you don't
hear everywhere. And whether or not
you're able to join us for part two of this
discussion tomorrow. We would encourage
each of you to go online right now and request the CD and a copy of
the entire book. Again, it's called
bringing up boys. And you can order online at Dr. James Dobson.org. This is Ryan Dobson for Luann Crane and our host, Dr. James Dobson
saying, God bless, and we'll see you
next time for another edition
of Family Talk.
Watch: Raising Boy: Routine Panic 2
Thanks for tuning
in today to Dr. James Dobson spam we talk, I'm Ryan Dobson with Lou anchoring and our
host of course, is America's foremost
family authority, Dr. James Dobson, and the author of the best-selling book,
bringing up boys, which actually Ryan made quite a buzz when it came out a few years ago, when people were
starting to notice that boys were in trouble academically, socially, psychologically. And my dad felt compelled to address this dilemma. And what are
the overarching concerns he focused on was something he
calls routine panic, where the pace of living in the exhaustion families are feeling really don't provide a positive
environment for raising our children and
especially our son. Well, because your dad loves to interact
with an audience, he assembled about
a 175 people, mostly adults and
college students. And he publicly
presented some of the fascinating research that he uncovered
on this topic. Well, it took them nearly three
years to write. A lot of people don't
realize that my dad is amply qualified to
address this subject. He earned his PhD from USC in the field of
child development, served as an Associate
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School
of Medicine for 14 years. He's been active in
governmental affairs and has advised three presidents on
family matters. So he really does know what he's
talking about and he always presents it in such an engaging way. I love to listen to him. So let's get right
to it now on family talk as
we present Part two of Dr. James stops and special series on
bringing up boys, addressing the problem
of routine panic. Now, let's go
back to what I was talking about
before with regard to the relationship between a newborn
and the mother. At that bonding
that takes place. That ceiling of the
relationship is also extremely important to the future mental
health of that child. That 18 months, that represents the
first year and a half of life is extremely
necessary for the the mother and the
son to bond together. And what my great
concern is at this time is that we're letting that period of
time get away from us. There are 6 million
children at this time. That our toddlers
are infants that are in daycare from
almost from birth. And they're 13
million kids that are in daycare in the
preschool years. I know some women have to put their
kids in daycare. I know some of them have
to get back to work. I know there are single
mothers out there. They have no choice
and we have to be very compassionate
to those folks. And we have to do what we can put an arm around him. But it is dangerous
to do that. And, uh, research is now making that very clear. There is an instrument of the federal government called Child Health
and Human Development that has been doing a longitudinal study
for a number of years now on the
consequences of early child
care placement. And it is very, very interesting and
somewhat discouraging 1000100 kids in ten premier Child
Development clinics. And they followed them at six months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, and 36 months, and then followed
them longitudinally. And what they found is that those kids
that are put in Ciao care centers
from very, very early, and especially those
that stay long hours, there have a damaged
relationship between the child
and the mother. And at five years of
age in kindergarten, they're three times more likely to have
behavioral problems, to be in conflict, to be discipline
problems to fight, to bully, and to not be cooperative
and not be compliant. And it is related to the interference with that early bonding
experience. And that is only one of the findings that have
come out situation. Now lot of mothers know that this is a problem. I've seen a lot of mothers cry who are at work. And they know that once that baby has been born, they're going to have
to be back at work in six weeks and they have to let those babies go, then I'm going to be there when the first word is spoken or when that
first step is taken. But they don't feel
like having choice. 70% of American women, of those in that age group, in the preschool age group would rather stay home. But they're not able to do so for
financial reasons. And our federal government looks at that great idea. Why don't we give more
money for childcare? We'll make more
childcare centers. Well, that's not the point. What you need to do
is let the women and the husbands
and wives keep their own money so that more of them can do what they
want to do, which is stay home and take care of their
own children. And boys especially are in need of stability
at that time. Now, let me
address something that is related to this that really does
concern me. If you were to come
up to me and ask, what is the greatest
source of difficulty? What is the, the most common cause of divorce? Why is the American
family not making it? And why are boys especially going through such a time of difficulty? And there's one
answer to it. It has to do with what
I call routine panic. It is that lifestyle, that breathless
lifestyle where we don't have time
to talk together, we don't have time
to walk together. We don't have time to, for husbands and wives to be Alone Together for their intimate hours
and so on there too worn out there,
too exhausted. That is the typical
American lifestyle. And it has major
implications for children, both boys and girls, but especially for boys. I read the other day about a French naturalist by the name of Henry for Bray, doctor for Bray. And he studied
processional caterpillars. Processional caterpillars
are those that follow the caterpillars
in front of them. And you could see a whole
line of them there. And their program
to do that, he put them in a
large flowerpot and put them inside
the inner edge. And they began following one another round and
round and around. And they continued for at least two days
and into the third. And it's obvious that
they needed food and it's obvious that
they were fatigued. And yet they continued
to follow one another. And finally, he put some pine needles in
the center of that pot, which is the food
that they typically, but none of them would
go over and eat it. And they followed
one another around that flowerpot
until they all die of exhaustion
and malnutrition. In some ways
that is typical. I think, of the
American family were following one
another faster and faster and faster. If you take this book that I've written
bringing up boys and all of the problems that I
discussed in here. Most of them are linked
to that lifestyle. Most of them come out of the fact that
we're too tired, we're not there when
they get home at night. 59% have kids come home
to an empty house. Girls cope without a whole lot better than boys. Boys by their very nature, do not do well when they are not properly
supervised. And yet this is
the way it is. A book came out by the
name of bowling alone. It's a tremendous book. It's written by
Dr. Robert Putnam, who is a professor at
Harvard University. And his thesis is that Americans no longer
have the community. They used to have. You know, I remember
when I was a kid, we'd hear a knock at the front door at the
screen, if you will. And somebody would
say Anybody home. And my mom would
come running and she'd say come on in
and they would come in. This these weren't people we had an appointment with. They were friends
and had come over and they'd
come over and they'd sit in
the living room and mom would go put some coffee on the on
the in the coffee pot, then bring it and serve. It's usually had
some apple pie and banana cream pie or something to serve to them. And we would sit and talk. And there was a
sense of community, there was a sense
of oneness. It doesn't happen. Now. You gotta make
an appointment. You gotta get on
somebody's calendar. You got as put it three weeks in advance and then change
it four times. But cause we just you don't drop in
on anybody now, what I have time
to see each other, you would just probably be frustrated yet plan to get seven things down on your to do list a day and here they
are at the door. And then the absence of that community
has broken down. Well, Dr. Putnam
has said that this has become a
serious problem in American life. We are less involved
in J sees in Kiwanis, in elks, in PTA, I, in the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. They don't do anything
together anymore. And as a result, community
has broken down. The theme of a book. The title of the book
is Bowling Alone. Because he said
anime interviewed 500 thousand people to come up with
these findings. He said we don't even
bowl together anymore. Just as many people
or bowling now as were ten or 20
or 30 years ago. But we don't
bowling leagues because we're not in association with
each other, we're isolated, were
exhausted. We're alone. And now what's happening
in the Church? More and more
people are watching the electronic
church there not even coming together
to commune together, even though Paul
said to forsake, not the assembling
together. And that is what
has happened. Well, this relates
very much to boys and, and how they function
because you get a chaotic lifestyle
where there is no time and everybody is going in opposite
directions. Boys don't do well under
those circumstances. There's another study
that was done called the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. This another very, very
important long-term study that's been done to, to see what the effects are of this kind
of lifestyle. And what they looked
at were Violence, juvenile delinquency
of all sorts, suicide, conflict
in school, academic difficulties
here or these, these problems
that you see with young people that
are on the increase. And then they tried
to relate that to the characteristics
of family life that, that they were observing in 11 thousand families
that they studied. And, you know, what
came out of that? This just fascinates me. Do you know how to prevent a lot of these problems? You know, I was
number one in the outcome as to how to prevent
adolescent difficulties. It was simply to be together as
husband and wife, husband or wife with your kids four times a day? In the morning after
school, at dinnertime. And at bedtime, just
be in the vicinity. Those four times per day. And the incidents of adolescent rebellion
dropped dramatically. Just from that difference. There was another
study also done by man at Harvard
University, Dr. Blake Bowden who I, who came up with
similar results. And this one surprise
me even more. That of of all the things related to adolescent
difficulties. Those families that ate together five
times per week. And you actually have
21 meals a week. The families that ate together five
times a week had a much lower incidence of rebellion in difficult
in that interesting. And it didn't have to be a candle light dinner. It can be McDonald's,
be pizza. It could be at a
local restaurant. It didn't have to be a
formal thing at all. Simply being together for a meal five times a week made all
the difference. But we don't do that. We eat in our cars,
we eat at work. This gets eaten
over here and this one's eaten over
there and dadgum zone two hours later than that. And when we don't
eat together, we don't do
anything together. We don't even watch
television together, that kids have television
in their own rooms, or they're into
the internet, or they're doing
something on their own. There is not that sense of community when that occurs. For boys, especially. Be aware. Now I want to
say something to you that I have not been willing to say in the 30 years that I've been writing
for families, I've known it,
I believed it. I've never had the
courage to say it. And courage to speak my mind has never been
a problem for me. But this, this is one that I have not been
willing to cite, but I must say it now. And you disagree with me. And so the rest
of the world, their bicycle hate me, but it's okay. It's okay. I believe that the
primary problem with the deterioration
of the family and the problems that boys
are going through is directly related to
the two career family. Where you have both
members of the family racing and run in and huffing and puffing,
they're exhausted. All of their energy is going in that
direction and there is nothing left over and there's nobody home. And that is dynamite. That sets up all kind
of problems for kids. Am I telling women, especially that they should not be in a career? No. I mean, everybody's gotta
make that decision. I wouldn't even presume to try to say what other
people ought to do. And it would be
silly for me as a man to make a statement like that
about other families. I don't know their
circumstances. I don't know
their finances, I don't know their
opportunities, I don't know their
temperaments. So I can't say that.
I can only tell you where you have that. You've got two very active, usually successful
careers going that are somewhat
uncompromising with each other and
with the family. The children suffer for it. And people say, How are
we going to do that? How no world
are we going to be with our kids morning, after school,
dinner, and bedtime? How are we going to
make it on one salary? How are we going to do
what you ask us to do? I don't know. I don't know the
answer for that. I just know that if you if you want
to know how to harmonize the
family and how to raise more healthy
boys and girls. Then you gotta deal with these issues
one way or another because it isn't working the way it is. It isn't working.
Families are absolutely falling apart. Everywhere you look,
they are fallen apart. Why? Because we don't have anything left
for each other. And as a result, the problems that I've talked about in this book, having to do
with suicide in academic problems and
all those other things are related to that. And my only point is that if that matters to us, we will
figure it out. A way to deal with. This is family talk. And you've been
listening to a presentation
that our host, Dr. James Dobson
recorded in front of a live audience
as part of his bringing up boys series. If you have missed
any of today's or yesterday's
discussion, don't worry, you can get caught up at Dr. James Dobson.org or by downloading our Family Talk app
onto your smartphone. Now we've reserved to just a few minutes here in the close to bring you a couple of the
questions that Doctor Dobbs and fielded
from that audience. So let's return
to the venue now as a mom steps up
to the microphone, where does the trust factor come into play?
Raising Ofwat. Is there a trust
factor? Not much. You can make a very
big mistake by assuming that everything is okay when you're
not looking, I think you have
to stay in touch. I remember Carol
Burnett's daughter got into drugs. And I just remember
her going on television saying
she trusted her daughter and she's regretted it ever since. She should have
been watching, she should have
been listening. There's so many
dangers out there. There's so many influences, there's so many
social settings where your kids will be wounded and heard and enticed into evil things. You've got to
stay in touch. And the notion that
you just kind of close your eyes and hope is
a recipe for disaster. That didn't mean
you read the diary. But it might view, thank your child
is taking drugs. You better read the diary. That's just my opinion. You guys disagree
with me. Don't see. Heavier. I raised for
boys and two girls in. You have to be in touch and in tune with the boys. It wasn't easy. My husband was
a truck driver. So you can imagine
whose cross-country? Yes. But they're still
if you can stay on top of it by listening
to the children. In generally, always
look at their eyes. Ivory dies about. So many people awake
during waitress. And you can tell when
they're if they're not high because you
can't smell alcohol, you can see something
else in their eyes. And it'll always tell that, yes, we had Wonder
Bread boys on drugs. And if we wouldn't have to. Yeah, you didn't
ever known it yet, but well, you've just illustrated
something else. My I talk often
about my dad, how much I appreciate him and the impact
that he's had on me. But my father was
an evangelist. He was gone. My dad was gone sometimes 66
weeks at a time. But when he came
home, he was mine. You gotta find some way in your set of circumstances
to make it work. In his case, when
he would come home, we had and together
we fish together, we made things and
it grows together. Then it was gone again, but it still worked. And in your case, your husband's a truck
driver and that's a tough assignment
for a family. And when he came home
is probably dart. But you've got to
work kids into it. And if you don't, the consequences are
there. Over here. You mentioned
that that period after 18 months and around five is crucial for the sun to be pulling
away from mom? Yes. What if at that time, the father's going through
his own crisis and he's working a lot and
he's not home a lot. And and his
participation in the family kind of resolve when the sun's older. This is my kth, Yes. And Dad wants to be great. Dad wants to teach his son. Can you can you get
back what you yeah. You know, the sad thing is that that situation
that you described is a typical family seen today because in early marriage and
early childhood, dads are busier
than they'll ever be that trying
to get started. They started the business. They're trying to make it in their work
and they're, they're just overwhelmed with these responsibility. So this is the
typical scenario. And the question
that you ask could be asked by
women everywhere. There is no real simple
answer to it because it is a need that is either going to be met or not met. This is why I'm talking
about this today. This is not simply
a matter of a passing need at home. This is the foundational
relationship that is gone too, to make differences for, for years to come. Now, some kids by their temperament
make it anyway. Most of them do, but
many of them don't. And where that occurs, you've got to find a male role
model somewhere. And if Dad is gone and just simply can't
meet that need, you better find an alkyl
are little layer on a coach or somebody who can teach that boy what it means to be a man. In my thumb of 13. Can you play catch up
is I guess my question. I think it's
never too late to build a relationship
like that in a teenage boy and his father can still
bond together. And a lot depends on the temperament and I don't want to make it
look like it's, you know, it's
forever lost, but it will be
forever different. So there is much that
you can still do. We've been listening to Dr. James Dobson series from bringing up boys
called routine panic. And as you've
tuned in today, maybe you've also been
a little convicted that your parents started off on the wrong foot. While I can assure you
it's not too late, you can begin to
instill some of those biblical values
in your home right now. And Ryan, your dad explains those principles are much more in depth in the 17
chapters of his book, bringing up boys, that's really the place to start. Call us here at
Family Talk request, your very own copy
of bringing up boys. The number to
call 877 73268 to five or go online to Doctor James stops
and.org where Lewin, we should also point out there's a counterpart to this book called
bringing up girls, which is very compelling. I am pouring myself
into it and have a little baby girl and
we don't want to leave out the parents of
daughters as well. So both of these,
Bringing it boys and bringing up girls are available a
Dr. James Dobson.org. And when you request them, also ask about how you can receive a
complimentary C, D of the discussion, which contains what we heard last time and today. You know, for those
of you who come you regularly to work, this would be the perfect
thing to pop into that cd player as
you make that drive. Or maybe some of
your grandparents could request
a copy of this for your children as
they're struggling to raise kids in this
ever-changing culture. One last time, the
number to call 87773. Two sixty eight
twenty five. Thanks for tuning
in today and be sure to return
next time for another edition of Dr. James Dobson,
the family dog.