Is spanking children morally wrong?
A long time ago, somewhere around 1967 or so, I read an article in the newspaper written by a syndicated child psychologist. If I remember correctly, his name was Hiyam Ginot; either that or some other name close to that. Well, whatever his name was, I reckon that the man thought himself to be a genius. Personally, I thought he was a blooming idiot. Anyway, this idiot wrote a newspaper article lambasting people who spank their children. The idiot actually put in print, for millions of people to read, something close to the following: It is morally wrong to spank a child. When my three-year-old child does something wrong, I say to him, “You fill me with consternation.”
Now, I may not be a big-deal syndicated child psychologist, but I have two daughters and nine grandchildren, so I reckon that I know a little about children. Given that, let me tell you this: If I were to say to a three-year-old child, “You fill me with consternation,” the little darling would look at me as if I were a fool. And then they keep right on doing whatever he had been doing.
Not For Every Child or Every Situation
Understand something here; I’m not saying that a spanking is the correct punishment in every situation for every child of every age. Past a certain age, a good talking to can be worse punishment than a spanking. That’s the way I felt when my father put me up against the refrigerator and talked (and talked and talked) to me. And my daughters? Now that they are adults with children of their own, have confessed that they sometimes wish I had just gone ahead and spanked them rather than talk (and talk and talk) to them. But, and this is a big “but,” the child has to be past a certain age. When they are three, or four, or so, a little tap on their little bottoms is something that they fully understand. And, the truth is, their feelings are usually hurt more than their little bottoms.
Think About It
A young child has to be punished using a means that he can understand, and the punishment has to be immediate. With respect to understanding the punishment, a three-year-old child doesn’t even know his own telephone number, much less what “consternation” means. With respect to immediacy of the punishment, a three-year-old child doesn’t remember what he did two hours ago, much less what he did yesterday.
One more thing: A man who doesn’t know the difference between a spanking and a beating really is a fool.
If you don’t agree with me, that’s your business.
