"Ernest T., did your mother ever hit you?" "Oh yeah.....!"
That brought up a fond memory for Ernest T, since he associated the discipline with love. That is the key. Physical punishment is not by definition "abuse" in my opinion, regardless of whether a mark was left or not. A young kid is too immature to be "reasoned" with. A young child reaching for a hot pot needs to immediately have his hand slapped. You have to "get the attention" of any student before a teachable moment can take place. Isn't that the whole concept of discipline? Training applied in such a way as to shape behavior? I don't "fear" my parents...never did, even in the middle of a spanking. But I sure as heck "respect" them and due to their love, respect myself. I teach school and see way too many kids that have NO respect for authority (parental or otherwise) due to a lack of "fear" or "anticipation" of the consequences. I believe that the "woodshed" needs to reappear in our society AND in our elementary schools, where it reminds a kid that good behavior is never optional. If that lesson is learned, the remainder of the school years run so much more smoothly. That being said, obviously all "abuse" needs to stop. Emotional, verbal, as well as physical. I just don't think that spanking a child is necessarily barbaric, regardless of what the good Dr. Spock said. The important thing to remember is that spanking has no effect if not applied early. You can't start the training in 2nd or 3rd grade. Just my opinion. Wish my "Mother-Figure" was still alive so I could thank her one more time for the training I recieved. Royce "But that's not where I'm from....I'm from Greensboro." Thrower _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://mail.wbmutbb.com/mailman/listinfo/wbmutbb_wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
