名人軼事18 Doctor Spock
Broadcast: October 3, 2004
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VOICE ONE:
I'm Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we
tell about the world's most famous doctor for children, Benjamin Spock.
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VOICE ONE:
Benjamin Spock's first book caused a revolution in the way American children
were raised. His book, "The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care," was
published in nineteen forty-six. More copies of it have been sold in the
United States than any other book except the Christian Bible. The book gave
advice to parents of babies and young children. The first lines of the book
are famous. Doctor Spock wrote: "Trust yourself. You know more than you think
you do".
VOICE TWO:
This message shocked many parents. For years, mothers had been told that they
should reject their natural feelings about their babies. Before Doctor
Spock's book appeared, the most popular guide to raising children was called
"Psychological Care of Infant and Child." The book's writer, John B. Watson,
urged extreme firmness in dealing with children. The book called for a strong
structure of rules in families. It warned parents never to kiss, hug or
physically comfort their children.
VOICE ONE:
Doctor Spock's book was very different. He gave gentle advice to ease the
fears of new parents. Doctor Spock said his work was an effort to help
parents trust their own natural abilities in caring for their children.
Doctor Spock based much of his advice on the research and findings of the
famous Austrian psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud. Doctor Spock's book discusses
the mental and emotional development of children. It urges parents to use
that information to decide how to deal with their babies when they are
crying, hungry, or tired.
For example, Doctor Spock dismissed the popular idea of exactly timed
feedings for babies. Baby care experts had believed that babies must be fed
at the same times every day or they would grow up to be demanding children.
Doctor Spock said babies should be fed when they are hungry. He argued that
babies know better than anyone about when and how much they need to eat. He
did not believe that feeding babies when they cry in hunger would make them
more demanding. He also believed that showing love to babies by hugging and
kissing them would make them happier and more secure.
VOICE TWO:
"The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" examined the emotional and
physical growth of children. Doctor Spock said he did not want to just tell a
parent what to do. He said he tried to explain what children generally are
like at different times in their development so parents would know what to
expect.
Doctor Spock's book did not receive much notice from the media when it was
published in nineteen forty- six. Yet, seven hundred fifty thousand copies of
the book were sold during the year after its release. Doctor Spock began
receiving many letters of thanks from mothers around the country.
VOICE ONE:
Doctor Spock considered his mother, Mildred Spock, to be the major influence
on his personal and professional life. He said his ideas about how parents
should act were first formed because of her. He reacted to the way in which
his mother cared for him and his brother and sisters.
Doctor Spock described his mother as extremely controlling. He said she
believed all human action was the result of a physical health issue or a
moral one. She never considered her children's actions were based on
emotional needs.
Doctor Spock later argued against this way of thinking. Yet, he praised his
mother's trust of her own knowledge of her children. In his book, "Spock on
Spock," he wrote about his mother's ability to correctly identify her
children's sicknesses when the doctors were wrong.
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VOICE TWO:
Benjamin Spock was born in nineteen-oh-three. He was the first of six
children. The Spock family lived in New Haven, Connecticut. His father was a
successful lawyer. Benjamin was a quiet child. He attended Phillips Academy,
a private school in Andover, Massachusetts. Later he attended Yale University
in New Haven. He joined a sports team at Yale that competed in rowing boats.
In nineteen twenty-four, he and his team members competed in rowing at the
Olympic Games in Paris, France. They won the gold medal.
VOICE ONE:
