There Are No Bad Children
There are no bad children. Yes, there may be children who do
bad things. There may be children who do appalling things.
But they are not bad. No matter how naughty my children are,
they are not bad. They may make me climb the walls with
their behavior at times, but when they have gone to sleep and
I peep in at them, they are angelic little cherubs, utterly good,
utterly perfect. Yes, what they do during the day, to get my
dander up, may be naughty, may be bad behavior, but they
remain intrinsically good.
The only reason the behavior is bad is because they are explor-
ing the world and learning where the boundaries are. They
have to make mistakes in order to find out what’s what. It is
only natural and quite normal.
The same goes for any other behavior that is out of the ordi-
nary. There are no clumsy children, only clumsy behavior.
There are no stupid children, only stupid conduct. They are
no spiteful children, only spiteful acts. There are no selfish
children, only selfish actions.
Kids don’t know any better, and it is your job to teach them,
educate them, help them, encourage them. You start off on the
wrong foot if you start off believing they are bad. You’re almost
bound to fail if you believe them to be faulty. You can’t change
a bad child, but you can change bad behavior. If you believe
the child is good, you’re on to a winner immediately. All
you’ve got to do is change the behavior, and that is an attain-
able goal.