Chidekel, Dr. Dana: Who’s in Charge? Your Young Child, or You?

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Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/[email protected]/1197-1-Radio_Curious_-_20170214_-_Chidekel_(Archive).mp3) Are you or do you know someone who is tired of endlessly negotiating with a 5-year-old? How about taking a 3-year-old to a restaurant? Children are too often seen and treated as small adults, dressed as adults, and sometimes have their lives planned out for them to be as busy as adults. Treating children as people older than they are overlooks their cognitive abilities. This can lead to unsatisfying and sometimes traumatic relationships between the child and the parents. Parents in Charge: Setting Healthy, Loving Boundaries for You and Your Child was written by Dr. Dana Chidekel in 2002. She’s a child psychologist near Los Angeles, California. Dr. Chidekel argues that the developing brain of toddlers does not give them the capacity to respond to being placed on equal ground with their parents. She encourages parents to assume their rightful role of authority. I spoke with Dr. Dana Chidekel in the winter of 2002 from her office in Southern California. We began our conversation by talking about the developing brain of young children. I asked her what the brain of a young child is can and cannot assess. The books that Dr. Chidekel recommends for young children are the Berenstain Bears series. The book she recommends for older people is “Seabiscuit.”

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