James C. Dobson (1936–2025)

Really enjoyed this one. Nothing super unique, but I found it uniquely encouraging compared to a lot of other parenting books I’ve read lately. I appreciate that Dr. Dobson actually acknowledges that children can have vastly different personalities and that even very good parents can have some children with much more difficult behaviour than others who are not as diligent in their character training or discipline. It’s helped me to relax a bit.

I am a Christian, grew up in a Christian environment, went to a private Christian school. Anyone who knows me knows I lean heavily toward Conservative than Liberal. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Dobson, yet this book disappointed me. I felt like it was preaching intolerance, and encouraging parents to keep their little boys away from those "evil gay folks" - because otherwise, your child might end up just like them. Yes, that's a blanket statement for the whole book, and yes, that was a show more bit of sarcasm. I couldn't finish this one.

I for one, will not be teaching my little boy to be afraid of, hate or even to dislike anyone, due to sexual orientation or anything else for that matter, regardless of the source that tells me to do so. This book is not representative of all Conservative Christians. show less

I actually read the 1978 edition, so I hope in the new one some of his views have evolved.
Dr. Dobson had some good points to make about the necessity for leadership by parents, but I do not like the idea of enforcing it with a switch. I also did not like the way he put down other practitioners in his field, calling them "naive," "foolish," "outrageous," etc.
I knew going in that Dr. Dobson was a Christian, but I didn't expect so many Bible quotes, nor his statements that systems other than show more the Judeo-Christian one are Wrong.
That said, he does have some good suggestions about dealing with teenagers and with hyperactive children that I found useful. For people who share his beliefs, this is probably a very helpful book; for me only slightly so, unfortunately. show less

Wow! I read this book for a book report for my class, and I really loved it. It kind of makes me nervous about bringing children in the world, and I didn't exactly agree with all of the advice but I learned so much. It gave me insight on how to be a good parent, and some of the advice was good for me to know as a future teacher because I'll be able to look for signs that the girls in my class either have a hard home life or an great one.