Wednesday, May 30, 2007

To Love, To Educate, To Discipline - By Dr. A. Ranga Rao

Dear All,

To love, to educate, to discipline -
These three are not separate phenomena. They are complimentary, a unitary process. If one is there, the second and third will be there. If educating and disciplining do not follow love, it implies that it is not true love. Giving license to do as the child wishes is called permissiveness, a kind of indulgence. When one loves a child, one tries to educate the child in right thinking and right doing.

Educating the child implies hard struggle on the part of the parent and it comes into being only if there is true love for the child. Discipline, if it is to be real and creative has to be approached voluntarily, happily and healthy; through love, through example, through mutual hearty communication between parent and child.

When the relationship is such, educating child is very easy and a joyful work. To be able to achieve this, the parent has to have continuous good learning for himself/herself and to seek joy in well ordered disciplined daily life.

To love is to learn and teach, to learn and teach is to discipline oneself. Love, education and discipline are integrals, not differentials.

With Love, Amma-Naana