To Train Up A Child (Paperback)

by Michael Pearl (Author), Debi Pearl (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
...after only 2 days of applying the principles in your book, our rebellious, miserable, 8 year-old daughter suddenly transformed... -- No Greater Joy, Sample Ed. 2000, p. 5.

I am so thankful to be enjoying my precious children instead of merely trying to "keep up" with my life. -- No Greater Joy, May/June 2000, p.4.

I enjoyed it so much that I ordered 8 more of them to give to each family at Christmas. -- No Greater Joy, Sample Copy 1999, p. 8.

Product Description
This book is not about discipline, nor problem children. The emphasis is on the training of a child before the need to discipline arises. It is apparent that most parents never attempt to train a child to obey. They wait until the child becomes unbearable and then explode. With proper training, discipline can be reduced to 5% of what many now practice. As you come to understand the difference between training and discipline, you will have a renewed vision for your family—no more raised voices, no contention, no bad attitudes, fewer spankings, a cheerful atmosphere in the home, and total obedience from your children.

A couple, stressed out with the conflict of three young children, after spending the weekend with us and hearing some of these principles, changed their strategy. One week later, they exclaimed, "I can't believe it; we went to a friend's house, and when I told my children to do something, they immediately, without question, obeyed."

These truths are not new, deep insights from the professional world of research, rather, the same principles the Amish use to train their stubborn mules, the same technique God uses to train his children.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 109 pages
• Publisher: No Greater Joy Ministries (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892112000
• ISBN-13: 978-1892112002
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (851 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,492 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How-to For Child Abuse, July 13, 2004

By	Renea Frey "Fyshmom" (Cincinnati, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gasey pretended to be Christians and co-authored a book about child rearing it couldn't possibly be more shocking, violent and dysfunctional than "To Train Up A Child." This is, essentially, a how-to book for child abusers, recommending severe beatings for children, including infants, for just about every behavior imaginable. The Peals proudly admit to abusing their own children, as well as others outside of their family.

WWJD? NOT read this book, for starters. Perhaps the only thing that the Pearls are more ignorant of than child-rearing is the Bible -- this book is rife with misquotes, misunderstandings and phrases taken out of context from the Bible.

I am shocked and disgusted that Amazon.com would carry a book which promotes the illegal and immoral torture of children. Every parent who follows the advice presented in this book would be convicted of child abuse in any state in this country -- part of the responsibility for this atrocity goes to any corporation which agrees to help disseminate this type of abominable information.

I do not know how the Pearls sleep at night... I pray for all the children who have been negatively impacted by their hate and ignorance.

42 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars TO TRAIN UP A CHILD, August 3, 2004

By	J. House "Mother of 3" (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a horrible book ... even if you are one who believes in spanking ..this is extreme ... There are examples of whipping 4 month, 7 month, and 12 month old babies. They recommend whipping for crying in their cribs, for crying for their mothers. If a toddler has a tantrum they say to give him "a swift forceful spanking." And on p.44 they say not to let the chlid's crying while being hit to "cause you to lighten up on the intensity or duration of the spanking." They say to continue whipping until their crying turns into a "wounded, submissive whimper." They recommend whipping a 3 year old until he is "totally broken." They say that if a chlid does obey before being whipped, whip them anyway. And "if you have to sit on him to spank him, then do not hesitate." They say to always hit with some sort of whip and on p.47 they recommend their various whips, including "a belt or larger tree branch." Oh and they also recommend pulling babies' hair, tripping a non-swimming toddler so she falls into deep water, and making children go hungry if they don't like what you're serving for dinner! And if children lose their shoes, "let them go without until they (the children) can make the money to buy more." They say to ignore a baby's bumped head when he falls to the floor, ignore skinned knees, and "if your child is roughed-up by peers, rejoice." .... THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!!! DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK ... HE IS INSANE!

54 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Been there, done that. Still dealing with the aftermath., March 7, 2002

By A Customer

Three years (5 mos. old to 3 1/2 yrs.) of soaking in everything the Pearls had to say via books and newsletters resulted in the following deterioration in our family:

Stage 1 - everything goes well according to the book

Stage 2 - child will not obey unless the rod is in parent's hand

Stage 3 - child persists in doing forbidden actions as soon as parent's back is turned

Stage 4 - child is no longer deterred from wrongdoing by punishment and refuses to learn new things

Stage 5 - child is violent and starts to openly hate parent

Stage 6 - parent snaps, child in danger

At this point, we were subjected to an investigation by child protective services because the counselor who I went to for help turned us in. This was a very, very scary process. Fortunately, we still have the children. We had to pay out the wazoo for a (different) counselor, and are still dealing with behaviour problems in our child.

Don't even consider this book. Complacent, compliant children do well with it. The rest of them don't. A friend of mine who loves this book and whose children are older didn't believe me and didn't understand until her next baby got older. That child is exactly like mine, and now she understands my warning. She'd complained about one of her other children being strong willed, but now she knows better.

Never, ever assume that just because a book has lots of "It worked for me!" stories that it is the end-all and be-all of advice. Of course they're not going to publish stories like mine in those books.

I don't have all the answers, but I do know that the best parenting book I ever read was the Bible, and especially Luke 6:31 "And as ye would that men [your children] should do to you, do you also to them likewise."