Parenting & Family Quote by Kent McCord

McCord’s line lands with the quiet certainty of someone who’s watched authority get confused with leadership. As an actor who came up in an era when “because I said so” still passed for parenting philosophy, he’s drawing a sharp boundary: kids don’t absorb values from lectures, they absorb them from what you do when you’re tired, angry, generous, scared. “Learn from example” isn’t a Hallmark slogan here; it’s a dare. It implies that the adult has to be the one under scrutiny, which is exactly what authoritative households try to avoid.

The second sentence does the heavier lifting. “I don’t believe in raising them in an authoritative atmosphere” isn’t just anti-strictness; it’s anti-climate. He’s talking about the air in a home: whether fear is the default, whether obedience is mistaken for respect, whether mistakes become moral failures. That word “atmosphere” suggests something pervasive and ambient, not a single rule or punishment. It’s a critique of control as a lifestyle.

There’s also an unspoken career subtext. Actors live inside rehearsal rooms where hierarchy exists, but the best work usually comes from trust, not intimidation. McCord’s worldview treats parenting less like directing extras and more like building an ensemble: the goal isn’t compliance on cue, it’s a kid who can think, choose, and still feel safe enough to tell the truth.