Book Review - Raising a Nonviolent Child by John Rosemond

It dawned on me that this might seem like an odd book selection. Kids, boys particularly, and my boy, can so easily be attracted to video games and so many of the games lean toward violence (or just flat out are). Sure, kids, boys, have typically leaned toward "violent" games in general for a long time, with no seemingly ill effects. Remember the games boys played when we were kids? "We turned out okay," right? But life is different now, media is different now, exposure is different now, and like it or not, our culture is different now. You can't compare the cops and robbers and war games played back then to what kids play now.

I don't know where I found this book, Raising a Nonviolent Child, but I need to keep better tabs on where I'm getting my recommendations. Of course, there's also the possibility that I just ran across the title somewhere. It instantly rubs me the wrong way when books like this focus on Columbine. It's no different, in my mind, to adding in Charles Manson. It doesn't belong in a book like this, it's a key phrase designed to freak parents out. Statistically what are the chances that violence in children would come to this end. (Not even worth following that sentence with a question mark.)

The book jacket credits the author, John Rosemond, with "seven best-selling books on parenting." I don't doubt this, but I've never heard of him. He writes from a Christian perspective, yet he's not popular in my circle of friends (or I would have heard of him!). This book didn't grab me at all, nothing got my attention, and by the third chapter I was just turning pages looking for something redeeming. There's a nice chapter at the end of the book, "Don't Allow These Fifteen Behaviors, Period!" but it's not enough to recommend this book to others.

I've read a lot of parenting books, and once you weed past the fads (1-2-3 Magic, for example, is for some reason very popular but just bad), there are a handful that are outstanding, worthy of recommendation. My all time favorite remains Scott Turansky's Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining and Bad Attitudes . . . in You and Your Kids. It's hard work, and we keep trying to get it right. It's worth it.