Bad teachers

I read this article about Tennessee preacher Michael Pearl's book To Train Up a Child with horrified fascination. Pearl apparently believes that children should be treated like "stubborn mules", and argues with the right (read: abusive) persuasion, parents can have the little whippersnappers potty-trained by the time they're two weeks old. The article also offers a quickie tour of other terrible (and just plain weird) parenting advice books from the 1700s to the present. My favorite tip? A 1749 essay that recommended changing infants’ clothing frequently because clean clothes didn't actually “rob them of their nourishing Juices.” Charming!

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