Dawn L. Billings's Page

William J. Doherty, PhD, tells us in his book Take Back Your Kids that there is a new culture for children. Teachers sadly will confirm this. It appears that our children have become consumers of parental services. And parents are viewed as providers of parental services and brokers of community services for children. We as parents have been led to believe that our job as “good” parents is to serve and provide our children with a plethora of activities and rewards, so that they can have every ch… Continue

That’s right, children need to fail occasionally. Not just for failure’s sake, but for the lessons failure teaches each of us. Think about it, how much do you really learn from doing something right the first time? I have learned my best and most important lessons from the times when I have failed miserably. It made me want to understand what happened and how to do it better. It also made me a more hardy individual. When you fail you have to stop and ask yourself, “Why did that happen?” you also… Continue

We all decry the social epidemics of our time. Experts warn of the increase in drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and even more terrifying, the recent upsurge in children killing children, as well as the overall rise of violence on our streets and in our schools. The epidemic that we might not have the awareness to decry is the personal and social epidemic that supports and feeds the rest: entitlement.
In the past three decades the United States has seen a three hundred percent increase in adolescent s… Continue