The Sovereign Child: How a Forgotten Philosophy Can Liberate Kids and Their Parents

by Aaron Stupple

Instead of focusing on rules, Taking Children Seriously focuses on fostering understanding. Parenting is the process of supporting a child until they understand the world well enough that they can support themselves. What is the best way to foster understanding? To provide freedom and security for a person’s creativity to discover how the world works. Rules limit freedom, and hence understanding, and therefore impair the parenting project.

Focusing on understanding versus rules and boundaries

Kids, on the other hand, can rarely opt out. Rules for kids almost always entail force. Even if force isn’t applied, the mere threat of it is enough.

As a shorthand, all references to rules in this book refer to rules that kids can’t opt out of. This book is not opposed to rules.