7 - Question for the author    

What led the author to write this book?

A retired teacher of French language and literature, the author is not an expert on early childhood. But, at the age of seven, he had to run beneath American squadrons sent to bomb Toulon, and ever since he has been concerned about violence, its causes and its consequences. After searching for a long time through the writings of numerous authors to learn what could be the origin of man's penchant for killing one another and thus creating so much of our own misfortune, he read For Your Own Good, by Alice Miller. There he encountered the idea, surprising at first, that a large part of human violence, whether by ordinary men or the world's most important, could result from the way we treat children. Other books by the same author as well as by others that he read since that time have managed to convince him. This idea that children cannot help but be marked deeply by the violence practiced upon them by those they most love has fundamentally changed his worldview and persuaded him that, in order to make the world more livable, we must give up this notion that we can use hitting to train children with no adverse consequences. Hence this book.

Proceed/return to:

FOREWORD/PREFACE/INTRODUCTION

PART ONE
1 – A Brief History of Disciplinary Violence
2 – The Nature of Disciplinary Violence and Opinions on the Matter
3 – Why we must stop using corporal punishment
4 – How can we raise children without hitting?
5 – Why is it necessary to ban disciplinary violence?
6 – What to do?
7 – Question for the author
8 – Questions for the reader

PART TWO
World geography of disciplinary violence by continent and country

APPENDICES
I – Introduction for the EMIDA Family Education Program
II – Why the Church must denounce ordinary disciplinary violence
III – Resistance every advocate of a spanking ban can expect to face
IV – Declaration against "disciplinary" violence

ABOUT THE AUTHOR