Parenting in the old world was a team work made up primarily of a mature well-rounded alpha male and his female assistant. The alpha male was called the father, a real authoritarian figure, a leader, provider and protector. The second in command was the mother, a caregiver and an instructor.
While the father sets the tone and is off to "win the bread" for the family, the mother conducts rigorous hands-on training and discipline. The discipline was enforced by the father with his relatives, neighbours and friends serving as their spies and telling on you if you misbehaved in their absence.
Raising a child ment crafting a personality who will precisely fit into society with a role that benefits himself and others. It required discipline followed by correction and enforced through punishment or reward.

There's this saying that goes like this Spare the rod and spoil the child, Do you think is still valid in this new school parenting?

The whole concept of moulding a child through guidance, examples and corrections, enforced with reward or punishment is summed up in this wise saying which calls it the "rod"
It has its origin rooted in scriptures like Proverbs 13:24, which states that "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."
New school parenting in this new world with changing standards. Parents are sugarcoating discipline with a misguided sense of love; they have removed the punishment from the equation and have come up with high-sounding alternatives like positive reinforcement as if children were so hated by their parents in the past. Today's parents talk about gentle parenting, Parenting that is Free-Range and Natural Parenting. Such handling of children with kid gloves is a good example of "sparing the rod" which has produced a bash of irresponsible adults who do not understand the concept of action and consequences. Schools do not enforce discipline with punishment any more. Parents are hoping to bribe their kids with excessive show of love which ends up spoiling them.

Do you think Old school parents were too strict compared to new school parenting?

Old school parents were strict, but they were not too strict. We had a few parents who were heavy-handed when it came to punishment, and few were even abusive. But that is not enough reason why parenting today should be so lax.
I and other proponents of the reward and punishment aspect of a child's upbringing do not advocate cruelty towards children in the name of punishment. You can't burn a childs hand or finger, cut or punch, rub pepper, brand with hot iron and call it punishment. That is abuse. My parents are good example of old-school parents, my Mun deserves a PhD..

Which one were you raised? Do you think you were raised right .

If you have a phobia of the word discipline or punishment, it can explain why you respond the way you do once it is mentioned. I passed through the hands of the real old-school parents. It was complicated but it made me who I am today. I still remember the lessons. Don't talk when adults are talking except invited. Don't be disrespectful of older siblings; we grew up shy and spoke less until we developed the ability to mind our words, then plenty of work was done to remove the shyness away from us, so we started life as butterflies out of its cocoon, almost half grown. The discipline would not allow us to say the darndest things, we looked too shy even to open our eyes

_Source

Do you think we should go back to old-school parenting or stick to new-school parenting?

If it was up to me, I would take us back to the old parenting, but now it's only wishful thinking. Nobody ever enjoys real discipline; you only appreciate it later in life. That is what Proverbs 12:11 reminds us. I don't expect my kids to love it when I shout at them, but they love it when I reward their good deeds. They will only see the beauty later in life. It truly can't be one-sided, kids should learn that every action could result in benefits or consequences, which makes the art of making good choices very important. Punishment should be creative and far from abuse, well balanced as the opposite of reward. With time, they learn to avoid actions that result in punishment and have mastered self-control, a skill lacking in today's permissive world where the kids are the authorities, dictating to the parents, making rules and throwing tantrums along with it.

Conclusion and Invitation

Punishment is only a small aspect of discipline that only comes up when instructions are flouted or rules are broken. It is not the central idea. The central idea is providing instructions and education, inculcating values and morals by words and examples.
Withholding discipline and punishment is the worst thing you can do to a child because he will grow into a loose cannon.
What would you like to say about this controversial topic, I would love to sample views from @dequeen, @josepha and @bela90

Media Credit

Composer	@manuelhooks
Graphics from	Pixabay.com
Entry type	Contest participation / link
Organizer	@okere-blessing
Community	Steem4Nigeria
Date	Sat.. 31th May
	(@) 2025