Elder St Paisios on the Need for Discipline
“Today’s youth are like a calf that is tied to a stake in a meadow that constantly kicks and yanks on the rope, pulls out the stake, runs off, gets all tangled up, and finally is devoured by beasts. When a child is young, ii helps to apply the brake. When you see, for example, a mischievous young boy climbing a wall where he may fall and hurt himself badly, you shout “No, no,” give him a slap or two, and explain the danger. Next time he will be careful, not because he is afraid of the danger, but because he is afraid of being slapped. Today no punishments are given out in schools or even in the army. This is why young people are such a menace to their parents and their country. In the army, in the old days, the tougher the basic training was, the greater the bravery the soldiers would show in battle.”
– ‘With Pain and Love’