JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for August 26, 2014

Unfortunately, some people think that spanking or telling them no = child abuse, and then they wonder why kids are out of control

Indeed. I had three boys, born 16 months apart. I traveled with a wooden spoon in my bag. If I did that now, I’d get arrested. I had to put the youngest on a harness and leash to keep him from running off, and even then got complaints about it.

Kids should be seen and not heard!!! That is what my dad taught me all my life.

When I was a kid, “time out” meant that time you were unconscious. It was the 50s. It wasn’t merely custom for parents to spank kids, I think it was required by law. At any rate it never hurt any of us, and it turned us into model citizens instead of the stuff I see in public today. It could cure ADD, too. Our teachers and principal were allowed to use corporal punishment and if you got it at school you got it all over again at home (I hated the telephone for that reason). So instead of turning out to be drug dealers, slackers or serial killers we turned out to be soldiers, professors, police officers and doctors. When I check my old first grade yearbook (no kindergarten back then in our area), all of us turned out well. And we were allowed to bring our cap guns to school to play cops and robbers or cowboys. Also about every boy had a small pocket knife. None of us ever cut another kid or brought a real gun to school and shot anyone. None of our little egos were damaged (the girls were universally well-behaved – unlike us boys) and none of us got a “complex” from being spanked in school.

Wow, all of these comments are very telling.

(“Wait until we get home where there’s nobody present to interfere/intervene.”)

Best nation on Earth

Always count to ten first, never spank in anger. Frankly I was more afraid of the upcoming lecture than the spanking.

Never spanked once. Mom even threatened to pull me out of school when they wanted her to sign the corporal punishment waiver. Not even so much as a speed ticket. So, wow, guess you DON’T need to beat your kids.

I always applaud a free floor showUsually puts an end to the tantrumAnd makes Mom laugh

My girls were pretty well behaved in public. I gave them “jobs” to do – find the cereal that matches this coupon, etc. The one and only time they acted up – and they were on a real roll – I saw a clerk, asked him to be kind enough to take care of the cold stuff in my cart, took a screaming kid under each arm, and walked out.

Never spanked my children. One is a nurse, the other a teacher/engineer. Neither ever got into serious trouble. It’s called parenting, folks. Be a parent, not a “buddy”. Set limits, talk to them. If they throw a tantrum in public, pick them up and leave the store until they calm down. Talk to them.

I would not spank in anger…I would in with discipline. One for shock, second for attention, third for misbehavior. And that would fro the first infraction.

Sorry but you don’t want to interfere, alot of bad things have happened when people do. I would interfere in a child beating though.

And yes I did spank my child just as I was. We both turned out great, in my humble opion.

I see the troglodytes are here en force today. Hit an adult and get arrested for assault and battery, but it’s okay to hit a child.

When my dad got a job in OK short time. Back in the 1968 around the mid 60’s, OK had the wooden paddle that was used on students in school when paddle was used could hear in the classroom from the hallway. I knew of one young man when a youth he got into trouble a lot wild behavior. He was kicked out of school, in trouble with the law, and parents kicked him out of the home and they disciplined him. I see parents discipline not all children are law abiding citizens. Disciplining the child at times effective other times not.

You never know what’s going on with another family. For all they know, the child could be autistic and unable to control the tantrum. Spanking sure isn’t going to help!

I have commented on the sexual abuse by my father on here, so I am not going to rehash t. Just suffice it to say I know the difference between REAL abuse and discipline. Both of my girls can count on one hand the amount of times they can remember being paddled. The youngest one was always more of a handful than the older one. I think that’s probably true of most families. One day at the commissary she was being very bratty and “talking” was getting me no where. I spanked her (on her bottom, anywhere else like slapping the face I do consider abuse) right there. The cashier’s jaw dropped. I said to her, “You saw how she was acting”. The cashier replied, “Oh yes. I just wish more parents would do that instead of letting them run around acting crazy.”

I can see by the comments that there is quite a dichotomy on this subject. Here’s some words I live by.Quick to hit, Slow on wits

If she spanks her child, Child Services will take them and arrest her. That is not paranoia it only takes one “good citizen” to report it. I saw this happen to my niece in Farm Fresh grocery, we had to run and get out of there and never take her boy’s inside again. It was only a hand slap, she does not spank them.

To quote one parent seen beating on her kid in the store, screaming, “I’ll teach you to hit your brother!” Yes—yes ma’am, that’s exactly what you’re doing. I raised my own four kids without spanking, which required me to be calmer and to know what to say to get my kids’ attention, because I didn’t let them get away with anything, either. The Look is far more effective with a well-loved child than violence. They knew that if I said I would do something I would do it, be it no bed time story or feeding their ice cream to the others.

Irresponsible to have 3 children? Really? Even an only child can be a handful. And as for the harness and leash, given that when a child is separated from a parent, they could be picked up by some pedophile with thoughts other than returning the child. You apparently don’t have kids or you would know how fast they can move if you only glanced away for a micro-second. Kids 2-4 years old are still learning the world and you have to keep real good tabs on them. If it takes a child harness and leash to keep them at your side in public places, then so be it. Better than ending up with a traumatized, or worse, dead child.

The common thread of most commenters today appears to be that there are both psycho-moms with whips and chains and the “there, there, my child..no ice cream for YOU tonight” types that will never agree on the proper raising of offspring. That said, in my recollections of others’ child-raising techniques, there is no Grand Idea that actually works.The little bastids are all born individuals as a collection of DNA from thousands of predecessors and it’s Las Vegas odds that you’ll get a good one or a future mass-murderer or a world leader. I’ve no more qualifications than that of any observer and as a parent and/or a caretaker, I’ve had to “dust some drawers” just to emphasize a point or two, but it waz done with a joke later just for them to remember the point or the affair. . After all, lil’ kids shouldn’t go teasing bulls or dunking cats in the horse-trough. OBTW, a/o today, only 8 more car payments until my 80th berthday. After that, comes the hard part.

Spanking is for discipline only not in anger, it’s only abuse if the parent goes overboard and if a the parent were to find out about the bullying the bully would be too afraid to bully anymore.

My daughter saw a kid get results that way and I could see the little gears whirring. So she tried it. I picked her up so she couldn’t make a chase out of it, put my hand over her mouth to shut her up, and carried her to the car. First question: “Now did that accomplish anything?” No violence, just a calm discussion of behavior. Thereafter, any such tuning up for a tantrum resulted in “Do you want to go to the car?” Tantrum never developed.

I feel like he/she was referring more to a post by “bawana” seven posts down from the top

Hmm….that, I couldn’t tell ya. I hadn’t sought out their original post, since you had quoted it in yours, and was just going off that. My bad

So many different comments about kids now and when we were kids and …. wow!There seems to be as many different ways to raise and discipline kids as there are comments – and more.BTW – I see nothing wrong with doing the harness/leash thingie for the younger kidlets. Keeps them safe, close, and your hands free. Besides, we now think nothing of tethering an autistic child to his/her caregiver dog.

A Common ’tater: I recall a few decades ago, in a case involving a runaway from an abusive home, the US Supreme Court ruled that a minor had no constitutional rights. 5-4, Warren, Douglas, Black, and Brennen dissenting.

In fact – Variety (the Children’s Charity – run by the Shriners) has matched several autistic children every year for the last several years, with their own caregiver dog. The child is attached to the dog’s leash. These dogs help the children cope and keep them safe.

Violence begets violence.This country isn’t in trouble because children aren’t being whipped. This country is in trouble because of a bunch of sociopaths at the top who think something is only wrong if you get caught and who are leading this country into financial ruin.