The Sovereign Child - by Aaron Stupple (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Could it really be okay to let kids eat whatever they want? Sleep whenever they want? Watch whatever they want? If kids are completely free to make their own choices, won't they develop damaging habits that will haunt them into adulthood? Surely parents have a duty to set a few limits.

What if a philosophy from the 20th century explains why this conventional wisdom is wrong?

In The Sovereign Child, Aaron Stupple carries the torch of Taking Children Seriously, a parenting movement whose cornerstone is the idea that children's reasons, desires, emotions, and creativity all work precisely the same way that those of adults do-in short, that children are people.

Using examples gleaned from his experience as a father of five, Stupple takes a close look at the unavoidable harms of rule enforcement and the startling alternatives available when parents never give up on treating children as if their reasons for their choices matter as much as anyone else's.

Review Quotes

"Controlling your kids with a long list of rules is a lot of work. What would happen if you got rid of the rules? In The Sovereign Child, Aaron Stupple, father of five, tells us all about his amazing experiment in rule-free parenting. I doubt it will work for every family, but Stupple's story is worth hearing and worth pondering."

-Bryan Caplan, economist at George Mason University and author of Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun than You Think.

"Children are human beings with unlimited creative potential. This book is a roadmap for taking them seriously, unlocking that potential, and building a world where all people are free."

-Chris Turner, Founder of Moonrise.

"With engaging prose and insights grounded in the philosophy of Karl Popper, The Sovereign Child makes a compelling case for treating children as autonomous, capable individuals who don't benefit from having rules enforced on them."

-Dr. Ray Scott Percival, author of The Myth of the Closed Mind.