Shopping with 8 year old daughter in tow was always a nightmare. At the checkout, she would want this, want that, and scream bloody murder when I didn’t give in. Other shoppers would comment under their breath. She would reach for the gum, the toys, the candy bars, and I would hold onto her arms, trying to keep from grabbing things. In desperation one day, I picked her up and carried her out, holding her tight to avoid the kicking legs, leaving her father to pay for the items. The woman checking bags at the door didn’t like the way I was doing that and threatened to call the police.
As a nation, we’ve gone too far. The children have more power than the parents.
My daughter used to sleep with toys in the bed with her. One morning she woke up with a bruised eye from sleeping on one of them. When she got to school, and was questioned (I understand that they pulled her into the Principal’s office to talk to her), she told them she didn’t want to talk about it. Guess who was waiting for me on the doorstep when I got home?
And that incident gave her all the power. She learned all she had to do was say something to the school, even if it wasn’t true, and she could get a lot of attention, and miss class. Not to mention what would happen to mommy.
Thankfully, not all children are like that. My son’s aren’t. But enough are and it’s the ones like my daughter that could use a good butt spanking applied as needed to stop the stories in school and the fits at the store.
Growing up, my parents would use a belt when needed. You knew you were in big trouble when mom threatened to tell dad when he got home. That just about guaranteed that the belt would be used shortly after his arrival. We were never beat. It was never done in anger or as a reaction. We learned. You don’t sass your parents; you do what your told — even if you may have muttered later about it. And above all, you obeyed while you were out of the house. To misbehave while out was unforgivable.
Now how often do you stand in line and notice parents with problems? How many screaming kids want that candy? How many kids in stores do you hear talking back to their parents?
The respect for parental authority has faded. While the intent to educate against child abuse was done in an effort to help children, it has been taken too far.
I ask you, is it wrong to smack a child’s hands when they keep reaching for a hot stove? Or an electrical cord? Or towards a strange dog? If that’s okay, then why isn’t okay to smack those same hands, when it keeps reaching for that candy at the store? Where do you draw that line and how do you define it?
