Judge Judy Has This to Say About Good Parenting

Published: August 8, 2024

Judge Judy Has This to Say About Good Parenting

By Movieguide® Contributor

Judge Judy Sheindlin explained how a parent’s behavior inside the home impacts the values their children follow as they mature.

“Every parent, unless you’re psychotic, you want your children to grow up to be responsible, law-abiding, productive citizens and mates and friends,” Sheindlin told Fox News Digital. “And it’s a parent’s responsibility to take care of building that morality from at home. That’s not anybody else’s responsibility. That’s not a school’s responsibility. That’s not a community’s responsibility.”

“I’ve always believed that teaching morality is what children learn from emulating their parents. So if you have amoral parents, then that’s what their children will emulate, because that’s what they know,” she continued.

“So, parents don’t want their children to grow up to be anything but successful human beings,” Sheindlin added. “If you’re on the phone, the phone rings and your 6-year-old picks it up and it’s your mother-in-law, and you say to your child, ‘tell her that I’m not home.’ Well, that sounds innocent enough, doesn’t it? But what you’re really teaching the child in that moment is it’s okay to lie. My parents, my parents, I look up to you just told me it’s okay to lie. Similarly, if your child hears you, if you’re not telling the truth, that’s what the child is going to grow up to be.”

Sheindlin believes that it is a parent’s duty not only to set a good example but to lay down the law when their children are breaking the rules. This, she explained, sets them up for success because they will be able to thrive if they know what is expected of them.

“Parents sometimes run into trouble when they say, ‘we just want to be our kids’ buddy,'” she explained. “But children require rules, just as the adults do. I mean, the country is in the state it’s in now because the rules get blurred.”

“But it’s always been my view that babies feel swaddled in the womb — they’re close. And that’s why they teach mothers and fathers of newborns, how to swaddle their baby, tight when they’re infants, because they feel secure in that tight blanket,” Sheindlin continued. “And as you mature, you sort of loosen that blanket so that children develop their wings. They crawl, then they walk. But you’re never supposed to get away from basic rules.”

A mom of five, the famed judge has much experience as a parent. Now that her children have grown up, they are thankful for the hard standards that she imposed on them.

“I became the cross-examiner that I am because of her,” her son, Adam Levy, told Fox News Digital. “Growing up, whenever I was a little off, if I told a lie, if I tried to cover something up because I did something wrong, she always knew. She knew. And it wasn’t just that she had that sixth sense, which she did, but she was able to ask a series of questions that ultimately, I was unable to answer. I would get all confused, and she knew that I was lying,”

Sheindlin is also grandma to 13 grandkids.

“I spoil them,” she said in 2015. “I’m trying to think of how we don’t, but the answer is we do. We don’t even think we’re doing it, but their parents are very smart. And they try to put the skids on it.”

Movieguide® previously reported on Sheindlin:

Judge Judy Sheindlin is partnering with her granddaughter for a return to courtroom television on Nov. 1.

The courtroom icon, known for the long-running series, JUDGE JUDY, announced that the premiere of her new show, JUDY JUSTICE, would be available on weekdays through IMDb TV, a free streaming service from Amazon.

“New look. New home. The same Judge Judith Sheindlin. #JudyJustice is coming exclusively to @IMDbTV on weekdays beginning November 1,” an official Tweet read.

“She’s smart, sassy and opinionated,” Sheindlin said of her granddaughter. “Who knows where she gets those traits?”

After 25 years, JUDGE JUDY came to an end after CBS bought the rights to rerun old episodes from Sheindlin.