Healthy parenting is nothing if not a process of empowerment. As we help to raise our children's self-esteem, we also increase their personal power. When we encourage them to be confident, self-reliant, self-directed, and responsible individuals, we are giving them power.

The hours spent viewing TV are hours not available for actively participating in the real world, or playing, or being involved with friends and family. Watching television is an individual activity that tends to discourage interaction with others; as viewing time increases, family communication time decreases. As family communication decreases, people grow more distant from each other and may even forget how to carry on a good conversation.

Doing too much for others (often at their own expense), many persons are more 'human doings' than human beings.

In healthy families, children discover (through being listened to) that what they have to say is important and that their experiences and ideas (and they themselves) have worth. They are encouraged to think for themselves, express opinions, and make decisions for themselves. Parents supporting them in standing on their own two feet and doing what they think is right. Trusting and gaining confidence in themselves, they develop an inner locus of control.

If you tell children they are bad, that's what they believe they are--and that's probably what they will become.

We all enter the world with fairly simple needs: to be protected, to be nurtured, to be loved unconditionally, and to belong.

The Golden Rule of Parenting is; do unto your children as you wish your parents had done unto you!