Child Rearing today vs. 20-40 years ago..

How we raise our children today is SO different from the ways we were raised. I wonder why that is. We were taught to respect our elders, not to touch things in the stores, throwing fits were out of the question, and respecting our teachers was a must..if we got sent home with a bad report, we were terrified of what would happen to us at home.. Is it more b/c we are afraid of what other's will think of our child rearing? Today, you can't even look at a kid in anger for fear that someone may report you.. and the teachers..God Bless them.. My BFF is an art teacher to 11th and 12th graders, and although she has some good kids, most of them have no respect for her, the school or what they are learning. Is it because they know what they can get away with now. Back then, you didn't even look at a teacher cross-eyed.. What happened to us as a society that discipline is like torcher.. and with the lack of discipline, we are really hurting our children in the long run. Spanking a child is out of the question.. I could never imagine hitting my child, as I was hit as a child... but i was so fearful of my parents that I rarely did anything wrong and it pushed me to be successful as well as be a better mom to my two children today. However, how do you learn how to discipline when that word alone has such a bad rap.. I guess I can only say, thank God for "The Nanny" and "Jon and Kate plus 8".. those two women have made it OK for us moms to discipline the right way. How do you discipline your children? Maybe some of us can learn a few things from fellow moms.. Lord knows some of us need it!!