Edward Flanagan Quotes

I like to help kids, work with kids in detention homes. Don't tell a kid what's right and wrong. He knows what's right and wrong. Find out what his attitude and his aptitude are; try to help him where he wants to go.

If we're going to make a real dent in the bullying issue, we're going to have to address the bullies themselves: find ways to help empower them that don't include allowing them to be predators or to simply be punished.

I take parenting incredibly seriously. I want to be there for my kids and help them navigate the world, and develop skills, emotional intelligence, to enjoy life, and I'm lucky to be able to do that and have two healthy, normal boys.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

Acting aggressively will allow our youth to aspire for better-paid jobs and find alternatives to criminality.

The solution to putting an end to bullying is to stop it at the source but also to find out what is causing the person to behave the way that they do.

It takes a caring community to raise a child that will be a whole person and a contributing citizen.

There are too many people with a Father Flanagan philosophy that there is no such thing as a bad boy. There are plenty of bad boys.

Why cannot some of the money the government spends be used to take the children and youths who will become criminals, and educate them and put them into suitable environments so that they will become normal people?

I have to say I'm all for public flogging. One type of criminal that a public humiliation might work particularly well with are the juvenile delinquents, a lot of whom consider it a badge of honor to be sent to juvenile detention.

My mom's mission my entire teenage years was just to save my life.

The way I stand up to bullies is with kindness and love. Because I think that's what they really need. They're misunderstood and probably really upset themselves.

Physical punishment teaches children that the larger, stronger person has the power to get his way, whether or not he is in the right, and they may resent this in the parent-for life.

When gentle persuasion [of children] falls on deaf ears, we resort to ridicule and rebuke. Then we return to threats and punishment. This is the modus operandi of a mutual frustration society.

The object of punishment is to... lift the man up; to stamp out his bad nature and wicked disposition.

To punish madmen is as great folly as to sympathize with their condition

Everybody wants respect. In their own way, three-year-olds would like respect, and acknowledgment, in their terms.

As parents, you want to try to mitigate your children's pain.

Anyone who's been a teenager, or raised one, knows growing up is hard. Kids can be cruel to their peers, and many young people go through tough times and experience low moments.

I have always believed prison can be very, very good for you but not by the act of deprivation of liberty alone. There has to be more to life inside than that.

As a father, I've tried to encourage my children to have a broader and deeper emotional life than I've had. I want my sons to be able to express their feelings about things.

As parents, we all want the best for our children.

I thrive on having support around me, even if they are not actively doing something. I feel happier, more confident.

I think it's so important to have a great support network when you feel like you can't - I would actually go and talk to the people who tell you that you can.

Everyone should have a life coach. We learn history, maths, and science at school, but we don't have the tools to understand emotions: to release them and not hold on to anger.