# Quote — Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life

> If your child is the kind of determined varmint who simply runs away, laughing, when placed on the steps or in his room, physical restraint might have to be added to the time out routine. A child can be held carefully but firmly by the upper arms, until he or she stops squirming and pays attention. If that fails, being turned over a parent’s knee might be required. For the child who is pushing the limits in a spectacularly inspired way, a swat across the backside can indicate requisite seriousness on the part of a responsible adult. There are some situations in which even that will not suffice, partly because some children are very determined, exploratory, and tough, or because the offending behaviour is truly severe. And if you’re not thinking such things through, then you’re not acting responsibly as a parent. You’re leaving the dirty work to someone else, who will be much dirtier doing it.

- Author: [Jordan B. Peterson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson.md)
- Book: [12 Rules for Life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/12-rules-for-life.md)
- Page: 141
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jordan_Peterson#12_Rules_for_Life_(2017)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/12-rules-for-life/if-your-child

## More from this book

> People organize their brains with conversation. If they don't have anyone to tell their story to, they lose their minds. Like hoarders, they cannot unclutter themselves.

p. 250 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/12-rules-for-life/people-organize-their.md)

> It took untold generations to get you where you are. A little gratitude might be in order. If you’re going to insist on bending the world to your way, you better have your reasons.

p. 242 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/12-rules-for-life/it-took-untold.md)

> Was it really a good thing, for example, to so dramatically liberalize the divorce laws in the 1960s? It’s not clear to me that the children whose lives were destabilized by the hypothetical freedom this attempt at liberation introduced would say so. Horror and terror lurk behind the walls provided so wisely by our ancestors. We tear them down at our peril. We skate, unconsciously, on thin ice, with deep, cold waters below, where unimaginable monsters lurk.

p. 119 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/12-rules-for-life/was-it-really.md)