For those who believe in "Spare the rod and spoil the child," but don't happen to have any suitable rods lying around the house, have I got a deal for you:
To raise a child, one needs three invaluable allies: the Bible, the help of an extended family and "biblical-based resources" -- 9-inch-long spanking paddles of blue polyurethane, according to Steve Haymond from Bakersfield, who sells the paddles online for $6.50 apiece.
Twyla Bullock, in Eufaula, Okla., swears by the Rod -- a 22-inch, $5 white nylon whipping stick her husband designed and produced until recently. Named after the biblical "rod of correction," the Rod provides "a faith-based way to discipline children ... and train them as Christians," Bullock explains.
Susan Lawrence, a devout Lutheran from Arlington, Mass., is appalled.
"Christians are supposed to listen to Jesus," Lawrence said, bringing the Rod down with a thump on the seat of her living room futon and looking at the resulting dent with incredulity. "Can you imagine Jesus teaching to use the Rod?"
Corporal punishment has long been an accepted method of child discipline among evangelical and fundamentalist groups, but an increasing number of Christians are raising objections, arguing that advocates of spanking wrongly cite Scripture to justify a practice that should be banned. Lawrence, who peppers her conversation with quotes from the New Testament, says striking children defies the Golden Rule from the Gospel of Matthew: "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you."
It's not just evangelicals who believe in spanking - an ABC News poll in 2002 found that "two-thirds of the public approve of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure." The new tools being sold appear to be updates of old faithfuls - the "rod" looks like nothing but a plastic version of the thin branch that any of us reared in the country were threatened with at one point or another. And I remember that my middle school was quite well-stocked with thick wooden paddles.
What does appear to be new is this intra-religious war of Christians who believe in spanking vs. Christians who believe that that's not what Jesus would do (and who are most likely embarassed to be lumped in with the evangelical crowd).
While I can understand opposing corporal punishment, I wonder about the people who are trying to get it banned entirely. Does it help a child more to avoid a spanking or two if Mom gets fined or imprisoned for trying it? It may be difficult for some judges to distinguish between corporal punishment and child abuse, but I'd rather they keep trying, instead of criminalizing disciplinary contact.
What's more, what worked very well on me as a child was the threat of a spanking, with the actual event rarely if ever occuring. If such contact was somehow outlawed, these useful threats would become quite hollow; the reason it worked was because I was sure my mom was quite willing to follow up on it. She always combined it with humiliation, too - "Do you want me to pull your pants down and spank you right here in public?" - in such a way that would gall any touchy-feely, self-esteem types - but it was 100% effective.
Best Freeper quotes:
It's like, there aren't enough things around the house that you could hit your kids with ?
Why is it that people with calm, compliant children want to force their parenting methods on people who have more challenging children?
Yup, I have a sister-in-law who...used "time-outs" and verbal disciplinary methods only. Her kids are undiscplined little terrors today, and headed down the path to juvenile delinquency. Another sister-in-law administered "hand-to-butt" chastisement as needed. HER children are great, polite, intelligent kids, who get great grades in school.
A tube sock stuffed with a couple more tube socks is a good attention-getter without being considered 'cruel or unusual'. *THWAP* "When I said 'clean up your mess', I didn't mean three hours from now."
Use corporal punishment, but only do so rarely, else it will lose its effectiveness. Legitimate corporal punishment causes very little physical pain.
Posted by kswygert at February 6, 2005 09:27 PM