Pediatrician touts love & discipline

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–After almost a decade as a pediatrician, William Slonecker had heard it all – the medical questions about kids with colic and strep throat and an array of other queries from anxious parents wondering about this or that symptom.

But surprisingly, many of Slonecker’s patients were not coming to ask about medicine at all – but about discipline.

"From that point on, I made a commitment to find real solutions to the everyday struggles that parents face in rearing children," he says. "After much trial and error, a philosophy began to develop that produced better-behaved children, more confident parents and happier homes."

In Slonecker’s new book Parenting Principles: From the Heart of a Pediatrician from Broadman & Holman, he shares some of the parenting skills he has learned throughout 48 years of practicing and teaching pediatrics.

Frustrated by liberal authorities who confuse young parents amid an American family structure that is slipping away, he wanted to show a God-centered approach to discipline and child-rearing.

"Young couples turn to three groups of people for advice when raising their children: their parents, their pastor and their pediatrician. I have sought to combine the advice of all three into a workable structure for parents to use to train their children as God intended," he writes. "I have taken from the Word of God the underlying principles that God uses as He parents His children and used them to develop a strategy for parents to incorporate in their own homes."

After working firsthand with literally thousands of children in the areas of discipline and training, Slonecker says there is "very little" he has not experienced.

"This book is about preparing parents with the needed tools and proper techniques to paint to perfection the masterpiece God has intended a child to be," Slonecker says.

With that analogy in mind, Slonecker’s book emphasizes two basic themes: love and discipline.

Slonecker’s book is available at LifeWay Christian Stores and online at www.lifewaystores.com.