Time for parents to understand their kids' importance

The rescue of seven-year-old Japanese boy Yamato Tanooka after he survived six nights alone in Hokkaido's woods prompted the whole of Japan to deliberate on how to properly disciple children. Tanooka's parents forced him out of their car and left him on a mountain road in the bear-inhabited forest on May 28 as punishment for throwing stones at cars and people.

While Japanese rescue workers and Self-Defense Force personnel were scouring the forest for Tanooka, he had walked almost 7 kilometers to a SDF training facility. He kept himself warm by sleeping between two mattresses and drank water from a tap he came across in the SDF training camp (he didn't get anything solid to eat).

The second grader's endurance and survival skills awed the whole of Japan. And his parents were condemned for treating their son too harshly - some people called for understanding of parental frustration, though.