Few people would defend the Victorian attitude of children,　　　　　　　(1) _______but if you were a parent in those days, at least you know where　　　　　　　　 (2) _______you stood; children were to be seen and not heard. Freud andcompany did away with all that and parents have been bewilderedever since. The child’s happiness is all-important, the psychologists say,but what about the parents’ happiness? Parents suffer constantly with　　　　　(3) _______fear and guilt while their children gaily romp about pull the　　　　　　　　　 (4) _______place apart. A good old-fashion spanking is out of the question　　　　　　　 　(5) _______no modern child-rearing manual would permit such barbarity.The trouble is you are not allowed even to shout at: Who knows　　　　　　 　　 (6) _______what deep psychological wounds you might inflict? The poorchild may recover from the dreadful traumatic experience. Soit is that parents bend over backwards to avoid to give their　　　　 　　　　　(7) _______children complexes which a hundred years ago hadn’t even beenheard of. Certainly a child needs love, and a lot of it. But theexcessive permissiveness of modern parents is surely doing moreharm than good. Psychologists have succeeded in underminingparents’ confidence in their own authority. And it has taken children 　　　　 (8) _______long to get wind of the fact. There are countless articles inmagazines and newspapers. With so much unsolicited advicefly about, parents do nothing at all. And the children take complete　　　　　　(9) _______control. What else can the poor parents do but obey? But thepsychologists have much to answer. They should keep their mouths　　 　　　　　(10) _______shut and let the parents get on with the job. This will at least helpthe children to develop vigorous views of their own and give themsomething positive to react against.