Posted on 01/10/2005 11:15:03 AM PST by Momaw Nadon
ARLINGTON -- On a spring day, Susan Lawrence was flipping through a magazine, Home School Digest, when she came across an advertisement that took her breath away. In it, ''The Rod," a $5 flexible whipping stick, was described as the ''ideal tool for child training."
''Spoons are for cooking, belts are for holding up pants, hands are for loving, and rods are for chastening," read the advertisement she saw nearly two years ago for the 22-inch nylon rod. It also cited a biblical passage, which instructs parents not to spare the ''rod of correction."
The ad shocked Lawrence, a Lutheran who home-schools her children and opposes corporal punishment. She began a national campaign to stop what she sees as the misuse of the Bible as a justification for striking children. She also asked the federal government to deem The Rod hazardous to children, and ban the sale of all products designed for spanking. Lawrence says striking children violates the Golden Rule from the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament: ''In everything do to others as you would have them do to you."
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Thanks for your comments.
Where a spanking is necessary giving another punishment can be abusive and destructive. Let's see instead of administering a one minute spanking for hitting a girl I will put my third grade boy who's attention span is ten minutes on three days of consequences so by the end of it he will not remember what he is in trouble for, we will both be grouchy and angry. That's much better than doing something that takes one minute and then moving on with our lives. Which method is the truly the abusive one? Which method causes the least amount of bitterness and anger? Oh, and I forgot lets not spank him but put him on mind growth retarding drugs like Ritalin and Adderol.
Yes, there are other bad choices one could make.
However, that still does not make the spanking "necessary," it just makes a more appropriate choice of discipline necessary.
Ditto. I have a friend who is a nurse in a pediatrician's office and says kids as old as 8 or 9 completely refuse to listen and swear at their parents! For most of these kids one good session over the knee is all it will take.
Typical liberal. Doesn't approve of something, and wants to ban it for everyone else.
Yoo are right. The new trendy discipline method of putting kids on ritalin, dexedrine, clonadine, wellbutrin or prozac, and chemically shrinking their brains, is much more "humane".
LOL, what a childish technique, did you think it up all by yourself?
Hint, it's called straw-man, and every two bit imbecile on this board uses it as a substitute for thoughtful commentary.
So you contend that children are not being medicated at high rates to effect better behavior from them? Is that what you mean my a straw man?
When my kids were little, I used to tell them that if they were bad, I was going to buy a "SpankRPantsROffer" machine from a catalog.
Whenever the UPS man made a delivery, the kids would ask him, "Did you bring the spanking machine?" and he said, "Not this time." Of course today he would probably notify Child Protective Services.
However the Brown Truck never delivered a "SpankRPantsROffer" to our house, and, amazing as it may seem, none of my kids developed a phobia of Brown Trucks and Men In Brown.
I never contended that. Your question is actually an accusation that I said it. It's type of lying.
Is that what you mean my a straw man?
A straw-man argument is one where you dodge the topic and instead inject an off topic, easily refuted argument, which you attempt to say the other person made, and then knock it down. You build a straw-man and knock it down.
Argumentation 101.
http://nasw.org/users/nbazilchuk/Articles/islandpond.htm
http://www.nospank.net/ipond.htm
The state of Vermont went through a highly publicized case prosecuted by then States' Att. Phillip White..
Here are a few links, for reference and record.
I was shaking my head the whole time. Parent need to take control.
Wowzers!
''Spoons are for cooking,..."
I recall having MANY wooden spoons broken across my Backside. Ouch.
LOL. She must have been hell on wheels.
yeah. she's a firecracker alright, but she has gained a sense of humor in the deal. I guess raising four kids will do that to ya! We all seemed to turn out okay.
Sure, in some cases. However, one does not have to agree with her on the idea of corporal punishment to find it more than a little disturbing that some guy is out trying to sell his "spanking tool."
Something pretty sick about that. Makes you wonder if he's advertising in less wholesome venues as well....
Well, I'm glad you brought me to school like the imbecile I am. I guess you disapprove of spanking but approve of dark sarcasm in the classroom with kids? I hope not. But you are being sarcastic and belittling me (as an adult) here so I would take a guess that you would use those techniques on kids rather than spanking them as well. Oh, I am sorry is that another straw man?
The point I made (albeit sarcastically) was that non-spanking adults have no problem doing chemical violence to the brain.
"Which method is the truly the abusive one? Which method causes the least amount of bitterness and anger? Oh, and I forgot lets not spank him but put him on mind growth retarding drugs like Ritalin and Adderol."
The point was seconded by Taxrelief.
"The new trendy discipline method of putting kids on ritalin, dexedrine, clonadine, wellbutrin or prozac, and chemically shrinking their brains, is much more "humane".
Now you can call it childish and a straw man like you did but that takes nothing away from the point. And the point is related to the discussion in that many see drugs as a proper behavioral tool but see a problem with spanking.
Back when I was under the impression that you wanted to have a conversation about this I asked you something.
"So you contend that children are not being medicated at high rates to effect better behavior from them?"
Now that question mark means I was not stating what you said but asking you what exactly you meant calling a valid point a straw man. A sentence with one of these ? is not a statement of truth and so I could not possibly have lied. Sorry, I am not going to be a straw man for you to easily knock over on your abusive stand toward kids and parents rights.
It takes a lot to admit that kind of thing. You are to be commended.
That said, I'm STRONGLY opposed to the feds having any role into parenting whatsoever, and state/local governments should only get involved when a child is in serious danger from abuse or neglect.
Your friend can spank his monkey.
But you can't spank your friends monkey. (Notice: By order of the Supreme Court you can now legally spank your friends monkey, pleas disregard the above regulation.)
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