There is a difference between bureaucratic thinking and rational thinking. If one is not conscious, it can lead to distorted perceptions. In bureaucratic thinking, common sense is not allowed. One is always guided by the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law.

Bureaucratic thinking is limited thinking. Large organizations, professions, institutions, hospitals, universities and government agencies are often associated with this type of thinking that helps people who work in the system to control and regulate those who use its services. They continually justify their existence with new suggestions and ideas. There is an assumption that the decisions they make are in the best interest of the people they serve.

Therefore, I am appalled when the medical profession, which is supposed to take care of people’s physical and mental health, turns into bureaucratic thinkers and takes navel-gazing.

In 6 Minutes Medicine on the Internet of October 28, 2019, there was an article titled “Doctors were asked to improve their skills in mental health of young people.” It contained recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics that said “Pediatricians must develop a variety of mental health competencies to address the rising rates of mental health disorders in children and adolescents.”

These mental health competencies include:

“‘Fundamental’ Communication Skills.

Ability to incorporate mental health content and tools in health promotion and primary and secondary preventive care.

Skills in psychosocial evaluation and care of children with mental health problems.

Knowledge and skills of evidence-based psychosocial therapy and psychopharmacological therapy.

Skills to function as a team member and co-director with mental health specialists.

Commitment to adopt the practice of mental health as an integral part of pediatric care. “

When I read this, I couldn’t help but think “what a burden of bureaucracy” is this. How can we improve our mental health when professionals like these are oblivious to what is happening in our current society? They should investigate the causes of our problems and recommend solutions. Instead, they engage with an academic approach that is just another way of looking at the belly button.

These doctors should know better by knowing what happens when we have no discipline at home and in the classroom. The first five years of a child’s life are very crucial. They are the formative years where positive or negative conditioning occurs. During this period, what they need most is love and attention, not just pleasing their egos. This is where we teach children manners and how to behave. This is where we show them consideration for others, etc.

Children are not born informed. They have to be taught. They learn by direct experience and by example. Parents and teachers alike have a duty and a responsibility to teach the civilized values ​​that we have in society. If they abandon this responsibility, can we blame these children for growing up wild and behaving the way they do?

In the Brisbane Courier-Mail of 10/30/2019, I read that the police accused an 11-year-old girl of stabbing her teacher. They had to use a taser to hold her down. That same night, Channel 9, on its program Current Affairs, published a story about a young criminal gang, with members as young as 11 years old, which led to the police in a savage chase.

It seems that society is going to waste and no one is questioning the current laws that prevent parents and teachers from disciplining children when they are young. However, when they get out of control when they are teenagers or younger, as in the previous case, we are forced to use discipline (violence) against them. How stupid can we get? It means that it is not okay to use violence against children when they are young, but it is okay to do so when they are older and out of control.

What do our wise pediatricians and psychiatrists have to say on this subject? Don’t have recommendations to regain some discipline at home and in the classroom? Developing skills in psychosocial therapy and drug therapy is certainly not going to solve our problem.

Without a doubt, the influence of Dr. Benjamin Spock, the American pediatrician, on all the benefactors of this world more than sixty years ago, was so great that it made us abandon the principle of ‘forgive the rod and spoil the child’. . We are now bearing fruit by following this philosophy. It has taken away our common sense and affected our judgment. In fact, we have dumped the baby with the bath water.

Violence is an unpleasant experience and nobody likes it. It can be a devastating experience. So we try to fight it and ban it. Have we been successful with all the laws we have?

In my opinion, violence is a form of communication. No matter how much you legislate against it, it won’t make it go away. You cannot delete it. It is in our blood through our territorial instinct. What we must do is try to understand it and harness its destructive power. It is the last form of communication, the last resort; otherwise why do we have to fight wars? Nonsense violence occurs when there is no perception or respect for self in the individual.

Does this mean that I am advocating violence against children? Try to think rationally and understand what I mean. Bureaucratic legislation has not prevented violence so far. It has prevented us from using our common sense approach to communicate with children. Children are very smart. When they see laws without consequences, they know how to exploit them to the fullest and treat them as a big joke. This is how you bring disrespect to the law.

There are no hard and fast rules about parenting. When we deal with children, we try to communicate with them. We have to be consistent in our approach and be honest with what we say. If you detect any weaknesses or inconsistencies, you can be sure that you know how to handle the situation.

When we stop parents, teachers, and the police from disciplining a rebellious child with legislation, aren’t we asking them to swim with one arm tied behind their back?

What good is having laws that have no consequences? What is our judicial system doing? What message are we sending? What insights are we creating? Discipline does not have to be equated with violence.

What do you call a society that prevents disciplining its children through legislation but entertains itself by watching violence in movies, television, cinemas, and computer games?

In my mind, there is no past, present or future. The future is what we create through the actions we take in the present. If no action is taken, our present becomes our future. Aren’t we living in a fool’s paradise? Please prepare for more heartaches and tears ahead.

Children are our invaluable asset and our future. Governments should correctly define their priorities and help parents take care of them in these first five years of their lives. The present requires urgent action.