Corporal punishment in schools should be abolished

[jknowgood]

Just because it is legal in those states does not mean it is practiced at all. None of the public schools here use it. When I was a kid, the nuns would smack knuckles with a ruler. That was 35 years ago. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen it done. There was a rumor that one girl got a spanking at the office from Sister Bonaventure, but was never confirmed.

A nun did that once to my wife...she still has the scar. Her "ruler" was a broken-off piece of a metal draftman's square, that she sharpened to a razor edge with a whetstone. The second time she tried it, my wife shattered the *****'s jaw and knocked out eight of her teeth.

Damn, you marry Sasquatch brah?








I kid, I kid.

No, I married someone who the nun did not realize could be as mean as she was...but ten thousand times more vicious. A roll of dimes clenched tightly in the fist makes a credible substitute for a set of knucks.

I prefer a tube sock full of bars of soap myself. Doesn't leave marks.

Oranges do better.

 

[ricechickie]

Do parents try to reason with a 3 month old? No, because the child is not equipped to understand language. How about a 5 year old? Now the child understands language but their mental faculties are not well developed.

Of course, you use discipline techniques that work with the age of the child, and also that particular child's personality. You might be confused because I'm talking about a child being able to reason, but that doesn't mean I mean "reasoning with the child." Unpleasant consequences (spanking, if that's what you do) can and should be coupled with an explanation, even for kids under 5. Pointing out a natural consequence (the broken toy that no one can use, the other child who is hurt or sad) should also be used.

Do many parents spank an 18 year old who has done something wrong? No, because spanking is no longer effective, reasoning works much better.

So if you want to modify behavior you have to understand the subject of your "experiment" and chose the best technique for the circumstances.

When you train a dog one of the rules is to deliver the punishment immediately after the wrongdoing. The dog poops in the kitchen, let the dog know immediately. Why? Because the dog has a limited capacity to make cause-effect connections so the trying to explain to the dog, a day later, that you disapprove of him pooping in your kitchen is just going to confuse the dog.

Well, with a young child, simply because they parrot back to you what you've explained to them doesn't mean that their brain is now guiding and filtering their behavior and operationalizing this new rule you've given them. There's a deeper, more primitive brain at work, still dominant, and it takes maturation to develop the rational part of the brain.

Do you know how kids learn to say the alphabet? They "parrot back." At first, they are simply mimicking. Then, it starts to take on meaning.

I'm not against punishment, even corporal punishment. But I am against relying solely on it.