Somebody Spank Those Young’uns

                         Somebody Spank Those Young’uns

               Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal,7/1/18

            Would anybody care to join me in my efforts to restore the abandoned practice of spanking?  Not hitting or striking. Spanking.

            We all know what spanking is and isn’t.  But oh, the horror stirring in the minds of readers whose minds are stuck on the words “hitting” and “striking,” even though I placed the word “not” in front of them.  Yes, modern psychology and parenting magazines have convinced most parents that they can reason with a child.  With some children you can, but I wouldn’t dote on it being a high percentage of today’s children.

            Our land, birthed in ruggedness and confidence and raised to great heights through ruggedness and confidence, has experienced an almost total loss of ruggedness and confidence when it comes to parenting.  We used to spank, but we’ve been shamed into inaction by “smart” people who write books and articles opposing it.  We’ve let them make us think we’re not as smart as they are.  I’ve read more articles on parenting than I can count, and I’ll put the wisdom and common sense of my 7^th grade educated mother and my 11^th grade educated, tenant farmer father up against any parenting expert.  My spanking parents weren’t mean.  They were wise.

            If I see one more 6-foot dad in a grocery store trying to negotiate with his 5-year-old kid, I’m going to scream.  I need the release.  Even the 6-foot, confidence-challenged dads have been seduced by the books and magazines.  Moms and dads both are constantly seeking permission from their little ones, usually with the question, “Okay?”  Make that “Okaaaay?”  String it out and maybe the child’s reasoning powers will miraculously emerge and prevail while you’re still asking for permission.

            When we see adults acting up in public (gathering and verbally attacking someone they disagree with) we can bet our last dime their parents said “Okaaaay” to them when they were children.  I mean, this situation didn’t start yesterday.  Ruggedness and confidence began to erode in the sixties.

            Many good things are happening in our country.  The economy is good; race relations are good (television news or commentary is not the measure here; your neighborhood, church, grocery store, and work place are the measure); the Nevada legislature is considering making brothels illegal, and charitable giving is still very strong, with Americans having given $373 billion in 2016.

            These facts are encouraging, but defiant, spoiled children (well, their parents) pose a present and future problem.  Children are in need of some parental shock and awe.  If parents can successfully deliver this commodity verbally, well and good.  If not, it’s time to use the belt again.  The tender approach has produced its visible fruit.  Belts, paddles, and switches on the well-padded gluteous-maximus never harmed anybody.

            The parenting books argue that “Because I said so” is a woeful response for a child who asks “Why?”  I can think of no better response.  Because Mom or Dad said so is the precise, the most supreme reason why a child should or should not do something.  If there is no ultimate authority for a child in the home, he or she is far more likely to face it before a judge or a jury.

            In his best-selling book, “12 Rules for Life,” Jordan Peterson asserts that when a father disciplines his son, he disturbs his son’s freedom, forcing him into acceptable behavior.  “But if the father doesn’t take such action,” Peterson writes, “he merely lets his son remain Peter Pan, the eternal Boy, King of the Lost Boys, Ruler of the non-existent Neverland.”  As one might guess, psychologist Peterson is breaking with his professional colleagues on this matter.

            Here is what the eternal boy (and girl) are doing that would have been embarrassing a few decades ago.  They are having their parents call up their college professors to complain about a grade.  Worse still, parents often show up on campus to discuss the perceived injustice. Good news: most professors refuse to talk to parents.  This situation should not be surprising.  Its culmination came when Obamacare allowed “children” up to age 26 to be carried on their parents’ insurance.

            If parents don’t start accepting the fact that maturity and individuality often must come through painful discipline, their children, according to Peterson, will “go to pieces in the face of adversity.”  We’re already seeing this.

            It’s time to reject philosophies and practices that produce bad results.  Time to spank again.  And please, let’s reinstate the military draft and let Uncle Sam do what Mom and Dad failed to do.

Roger Hines

6/27/18