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Want good kids? Return to tradition, author says

An educator touts the value of discipline, responsibility and quantity time in raising peaceful children.

By BETH N. GRAY
Published October 21, 2005

SPRING HILL - Educator and author Domenick Maglio calls himself "an American traditionalist."

As such, he's ventured into the trenches of the culture wars.

Contemporary culture is producing out-of-control children, Maglio maintains in his second book, Invasion Within: Overcoming the Elitists' Attack on Moral Values and the American Way.

From his office at Wider Horizons School recently, Maglio talked about his beliefs and the book.

Maglio blames "elitists" at schools and universities, in the media and in politics, for "mugging" Americans of their moral values, resulting in unruly children and a culture short on peace.

Maglio, who with his wife founded Wider Horizons School in Spring Hill in 1983, proposes a formula for rearing a "peaceful child."

It harks back to our grandparents' beliefs: act responsibly and accept personal accountability, teach values, invoke discipline, spend quantity time with the kids, have courage, pursue faith and patriotism, and don't watch trash on TV.

Maglio, 62, a father and grandfather, admits he bought into the counterculture of the 1960s. But he changed tunes when he observed that freewheeling parenting techniques didn't produce peaceful, responsible children.

The notion of parents spending quality time with their offspring isn't enough, Maglio says.

"They need quantity time, too," he said. "Child rearing is a 24-hour job."

He admits that's often difficult in a household where two parents work. In only 25 percent of two-parent families is the mother a homemaker, he noted. But are two incomes really necessary? he asks.

"We've gotten too materialistic. We have a want-lust for things," he said. "Consumerism is hurting our children."

Giving children toys and clothes is an inadequate replacement for caring, attentive parenting, he asserts.

Maglio and Julie, his wife of 40 years, don't subscribe to the concept, "Be friends, not parents."

"Friends" lose the authority to invoke discipline, said Julie Maglio, who with her husband has raised four successful children: teacher, lawyer, biologist and opera singer.

Added her husband, "Know when to say "no,' "stop."'

In his book, Maglio adds, "Being a strong parent is a loving act."

Over his 40 years as an educator, Maglio said he's observed a disturbing trend: "The way children treat their parents is outrageous. (Children) think they can get away with anything."

Parents as friends, buying anything their offspring want, failing to discipline bad behavior and not requiring children to accept responsibility have allowed it to happen, he said. The Maglios incorporate their philosophy in the curriculum at Wider Horizon, which has an enrollment of about 200 students in pre-K through Grade 12.

"We help children become responsible students," he said. "They must reach goals, develop positive habits, respond to teachers' evaluations of their work, adhere to behavioral strictures and grow in character.

"We expect them to do the right things," Maglio said. "We set the tone by letting children know clearly what they need to do. We set standards, expectations and goals. When they reach the standards, we push the level up."

When discipline is called for, the main thrust is getting together with the parents, asking them to help share responsibility on the home front so as to allay any further misconduct, Maglio added.

While traditionalism has been scoffed at in recent years as "boring," Maglio is optimistic.

"I think there's been a change," he said. "Parents are becoming aware they have to spend time with their kids. It's on the upswing."

The book was published by Regnery Publishing Inc. of Washington, D.C, which calls itself the "leading conservative publisher in America." Since putting Invasion Within into bookstores this spring, more than 6,000 copies are in print, according to a Regnery spokeswoman.

Maglio, whose first book was Essential Parenting, has appeared on several nationally aired TV talk shows and numerous radio programs as an authority on child rearing and education.

"This book," Maglio said of his latest work, "is something that caught the eye of the media."

Invasion Within: Overcoming the Elitists' Attack on Moral Values and the American Way is available, list price $27.95, at Barnes & Noble and Borders in Tampa and at Wider Horizons School, 4060 Castle Ave., Spring Hill. Beth Gray may be contacted at graybethn@earthlink.net

[Last modified October 21, 2005, 23:12:03]