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Knight starts off by attacking prevalent misconceptions: (1) the belief that everybody knows enough about human nature and 'psychology' to rear children and 'handle people' if he just uses 'common sense'; (2) the tendency to react to one's own rearing either by copying exactly the disciplinary methods used by one's own parents or else by swinging to the opposite extreme; (3) the belief that children should be as little nuisance as possible; (4) the attempt to follow the precepts supposedly emanating from the 'new psychology'.
He then goes on to discuss the normal behavior of children and stresses how different this is from normal adult behavior. This is followed by a brief insight into seventeen of the most common behavior problems met with in children including temper tantrums, timidity, apathy, sleep walking, thumb sucking, etc. In conclusion Knight states four general rules for normal child rearing: (1) consistent real affection from both parents so that the child feels wanted and secure; (2) consistent firm united discipline from both parents, carried out with reference to the child's needs rather than to the parents comfort; (3) sufficient understanding of, tolerance of, and ability to identify oneself with children to permit sensing what the child needs and what he is trying to accomplish by his various struggles and techniques; (4) willingness on the part of the parents to seek counsel and help from competent child psychiatrists when problems arise which are beyond the parents' understanding.