Well... this is my opinion of the liberal tirade, I mean... ARTICLE. First I'll mention that I've never struck either of my children, I've been lucky enough to have children that have never needed it. My wife utilized a swat on the behind for "hand on the hot stove" type dangerous situations. I believe its use was entirely appropriate.
Overall I don't disagree as strongly as the following rebuttal would seem to indicate, but I HATE it when people like this try to tell me how to parent, so I'm gleefully playing the devils advocate and shooting holes in a poorly written article.
1) This statement is based on an assertion of "extensive research". There is also "extensive research" that has established that using corporal punishment leads to children and adults that are better adjusted... which is correct? Depends on who you talk to, and most importantly, depends on who does the research.
2) In many cases of so-called "bad behavior", the child is simply responding in inapprorpriate ways to things in his/her envirnonment that he/she doesn't like. Correction is not intended to address the lack of coping mechanisms... it is a method of applying a correction for the childs use of an inappropriate coping mechnaism, nothing more. It is the additional responsibility of the parent to provide appropriate coping mechanisms, but that responsibility is in addition to correcting inappropriate behavior, not in replacement of.
3) Again, punishment is not used to teach coping mechanisms, it's used to correct behavior. It does not distract from learning nor does it preoccupy the child with revenge if the child knows he/she was acting inappropriately (if they can cognitively consider revenge then they are typically aware that what they're doing is wrong).
4) Blah blah blah religous B.S. blah blah blah irrelevant irrelevant irrelevant blah blah blah.
5) Complete and utter B.S. (CaUB). Appropriate use of punishment is a tool to be used by the parent, it's potential to interfere with the bond is equivelant to the damage done by overly permissive parents (who's children have no respect for their parents or anyone else). Inappropriate application of ANY tool is likely to cause problems, punishment is just a tool. Children respond positively on an emotional and behavioral level to parents who care enough to provide limits on their childrens behavior, and punishment is one tool available to enforce those (oft tested) limits.
6) Straw man... "many parents" is an attempt to make a narrow conclusion broad. The VAST majority of parents love their children and apply positive methods whenever possible, the few incompetent parents out there are NOT representative of parents at large. This is what I like to call the "gun control argument". Since the tool is abused by a few, we should of course then take it away from all, it's an intellectually bankrupt argument.
7) Angry teen syndrom is far more a phenomena of modern parenting than it ever was in the old days of physical punishment. IMO it's permissive parents who raise uncontrollable teens that cause this particular problem. I find the fact that those same parents use the problem they've created to justify trying to FORCE others to adopt their parenting methods rather amusing.
8) Spanking is typically on the behind because it gets attention without causing real pain. Erogenous zones... sheesh... this is REALLY reaching, probably trying to appeal to the phobias many North Americans have about sex. Then throw in lower back pain so everyone who's been spanked and have back pain can blame his parents instead of the 200 lb sacks of concrete he was lifting the other day. CaUB!
9) Again I disagree, the APPROPRIATE use of punishment corrects a behavior, and ironically, correctable behaviors INCLUDE physical violence. The prevelance of violence in our teens these days... ESPECIALLY teens who lack a discipline maintiaining father figure... refutes the authors conclusion.
10) children learn thorugh parental modeling, and the use of physical punishment becomes a tool available to the well balanced parent (just one more tool among MANY used to raise their children).
"Gentle instruction blah blah blah" is simply the authors attempt to put an unassailably humanisitic front on what is essential an attempt to limit the tools that parents have available to raise their children. This author is essentially telling every parent that they're incompentent, unable to determine situationally when physical punishment is the appropriate tool for the situation.
Many children can and are raised successfully using reinforcing (positive and negative) methods only, but many others grow up with no parental respect (which leads to lack of respect for ANY authority), no discipline, and a lack of personal accountability that allows them to justify any behavior, no matter how bad. When you see these children (and you will OFTEN these days) you can be assured that it's society reaping the rewards of its 'kinder, gentler', and more ineffectual parenting methods.
Behavioral modification can take essentailly four forms, positive and negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. By forcing parents to ONLY use reinforcement methods, this author and others like him are making the job of parenting far more difficult (and possibly impossible in the case of some children)... all based on their FEELING that they have all the answers and that the rest of us are too incompetent to know what is best for our children.
They're the modern version of the old 'Busy Body'... busy minding everyone else's business because then they don't have to look at the mess they've quite often made of their own lives.
[ 06-28-2004, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: Thoran ]