I don't think you will find anyone who believes in letting children run free amoungst the 'do gooders', parents are another matter... The difference today is that we don't beat children into submission, same as we don't beat puppies either. You can achieve well behaved, well rounded adults (and dogs) by 'positive reinforcement' ie give a certain amount of praise for behaving well, and remove priviliges for bad behaviour. Biggest problem is a lot of parents seem to think their children are 'angels' and 'princesses', and their role is to be a friend to their children, not a parent. Grand parents can be just as bad, how many have you heard say the love to 'spoil' their grandchildren. How you change that attitude I've no idea. Some dog owners need to learn this lesson too.In the context I think the, "do-gooders", John is referring to are those who advocate not disciplining young children but leaving them to run wild if they so desire, ignoring any attempts to correct them, so that they grow up believing this is acceptable.
To me, this flies in the face of common sense and certainly does not improve society..
Everyone accepts that a puppy has to be trained to produce a well behaved adult dog, so why are humans any different?.