When Children Disobey: Winking at Disobedience, Winding Toward Destruction

A child’s failure to obey proper authorities when young results in distrust of rightful authorities when he or she grows into an adult.BIBA KAJEVIC

A little girl sporting a blue tutu came into view the other day as I walked by a school parking lot. But it wasn’t the tutu that caught my attention—it was her mother’s various commands and entreaties that she was happily ignoring.

“It’s time to go, honey!” No movement. “We need to go home now,” came the repeated request, but little tutu lady kept playing behind a dwindling snow pile. “One ... two,” the increasingly frustrated mother counted.