David Walsh, president and cofounder of the National Institute on Media and the Family and award winning author of the book, No, Why Kids – of All Ages – Need to Hear it and Ways Parents Can Say It, writes on how to raise successful, healthy, and self-reliant kids. 

Dr. Walsh has a no-nonsense approach to parenting.  As I read the book, I found Dr. Walsh to be very practical with his clear and thoughtful real-world suggestions on how parents can best set limits and his ‘food for thought’ in providing discipline that will change your family’s quality of life.  

In the book, Dr. Walsh discusses the most significant lifestyle change for your kids over the last decade.  Kids today spend 44.5 hours a week on average in front of electronic screens, more time than any other activity other than sleeping. As a result, children are exposed to over one million ‘yes’ messages a year, nurturing a rising epidemic of Discipline Deficit Disorder. 

Dr. Walsh goes on to state that the constant barrage of ‘yes’ messages undermines crucial character traits for success, including self-reliance, respect, integrity and the ability to delay gratification.  Research shows that self-discipline is twice as strong a predictor of school success as intelligence.  Saying ‘no’ as a parent is not easy.  It is natural to want what is best for our children.  We want our children to have more than what we had as children, just as our parents, wanted the same for us. 

If anyone is looking for a good read and learn powerful parenting strategies that work, check out No, Why Kids – of All Ages – Need to Hear it and Ways Parents Can Say It, by Dr. David Walsh.

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