INSIDE OUT

I think this debate is quite obvious. For some reason, however, many people (even some who I would think should have thought this through a little better), still believe this "spanking" is justified? But, that's just it! I don't think that people are evil. I think that people really are not thinking this through correctly! They are following in the footsteps of the generation before them. Afterall, a lot of us were spanked and we turned out fine!

However, let's go down that line of thinking for a second. I've met a lot of people on this continent. I've met both men and women who "turned out fine". Ask some of them their story, however, and you will find a less-than-ideal childhood. Some stories of abuse ring in my head as I write this. Does this mean the abuse inflicted upon them was justified just because the end result "turned out fine"? This line of thinking is very weak and in my opinion, fails to justify hitting our children because we were hit and we "turned out fine".

I hear of kids going to school at a very tender age of six and even younger. Some of these kids are getting bullied. Other kids throw pieces of paper at their heads, trip them, kick them and unfortunately, even at this age, some kids are getting hit as they walk by in the hallways. We call this bullying. But, wait! Maybe if the bully wanted something from this victimized child, we shouldn't call it bullying! Maybe we should call it, "directing"! If the victim isn't listening to this bully, afterall, how is this bully going to get the respect they deserve!? Maybe we should call it, "spanking" for the purposes of respect and not, as it were, bullying!

I hear all too often, from mothers who "spank" their children, that it is not "hitting", it is spanking. How much babble is this? Because you are using your hand or another object on your child to get what YOU want, it is not called "hitting"? This is absurd. It is, indeed, bullying your child and you cannot justify yourself in any way beyond this. There IS no rationale for this. It is not mere "guidance". It is lazy and it is hitting. There are many, many ways of disciplining our children, which allow for self respect and self-motivated altruism. Hitting is physically-fear induced, it is mentally-fear induced, it is emotionally-fear induced, and it is wrong!

Please think about this, the next time you go to "hit" your child to get what you want.