As the title suggests, this entry concerns the discipline of children, and I know it's not just me who feels stunned at the way kids nowadays seem to get away with almost murder.
If I can start with a line that, as a small child, used to pull me into line. 'Do y'wanna feel the back 'o' my hand?' This line, when voiced, was a warning for me to stop whatever it was I was doing. Whether it was actually carrying on like a wee hooligan or just being cheeky or disrespectful, those words pulled me up quick smart. And if they didn't, the firm crack to the side of my head certainly did.
According to the PC and bleeding hearts, this must inevitably turn me into a violent boy. It didn't. What it did do, was to teach me to respect my elders - a respect almost unheard of in this day and age.
What the snivelling rights campaigners fail to understand is that before the age of understanding, the threat of a whallop is often the only thing stopping a child from doing something stupid. Something that may cause the child harm. Many times when young the only thing that stopped me was the knowledge that said crack would follow.
I didn't understand why; just knew that it would come.
We're not talking about ritual abuse here, Of course that's inappropriate. No, we're talking about a parent's love for their child. And the experience to know when it's required. A smack or slap to the rear end is completely harmless and it no more leads to a violent child than slapping a dog with a rolled-up newspaper turns it into a vicious animal.
I'm reminded of a time when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I was in the local high street with my parents when I saw something in a shop that I decide I wanted. Remember I'm only 4 or 5 so it was probably something shiny and sparkly. In the typical way of a whiney 5 year old, I pointed at it and proclaimed my desire. My mother said no. I said I wanted it; she said no. And on it went, So I did what any brat would do in the same circumstance and sat on the pavement and wailed my head off.
Now, the aforementioned snivel right crowd would advise the parent to 'speak firmly and calmly' to me, explaining in detail why I couldn't have the object. I'm 5 years old - it means nothing to me when told I don't need the item - all I know is I want it, and if throwing a tantrum means I'll get it, then that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Big mistake - huge! So I'm going off my head in the middle of the street with people watching the show. How embarrassing must that have been for my poor mother. So what did she do? At the end of her tether with my antics she lifted me off the ground by one arm and beat the shit out of my arse. If I thought I was wailing before, that was nothing to how I now did so.
I learnt a very valuable lesson that day; one that I've carried with me throughout my life. That is that sometimes one just can't have what one wants and kicking and screaming isn't gonna help.
And apparently, according to the bleeding hearts, I now am a violent man because all I learned from the experience was that violence gets you what you want. Well, I've never started a fight in my entire life; nor do I beat children.
There's a direct correlation between the decrease in physical punishment and the increase of disrespect from the young. I bloody hate the young now - especially teenagers, with their white baseball caps (the wearing of which, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the wearer's an arsehole)and their short haircuts and their 'tracky daks'. If you ask me, they all need a good hiding to beat some sense into them. Wee shits!
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2 comments:
Do you believe the Victorian concept of
"Children should be seen and not heard".
or
"Spare the rod and spoil the child".
The education of children begins at home. The first five years of a child's life are so important. If a child is not taught the difference between right and wrong
as well as respect for others and
their property -- and this icludes animals which are part of God's world -- we are on a hiding to nowhere.
Of course children have to be given a voice but it must be
channelled in the right direction.
Child abuse is rife and I utterly condemn it but a measured amount of discipline is necessary if we are to produce a society in which all races and cultures are respected.
I think children should be treated in much the same way as one would treat a dog; that is, they should be prevented from interfering in the lives of those who maybe don't have as much of a love for the 'little ones'.
So perhaps not 'seen and not heard' as much as...controlled.
As far as 'spare the rod' goes - absolutely - for the older kids, at least. There is no question in my mind, and that of many others I'm certain, that the legislation against corporal punishment has a direct correlation to the lack of respect amongst the young nowadays.
In my day, when a teacher, for example, told me to behave - I did so, fearful of the consequences if I disobeyed.
Now, that same teacher is more likely to receive a mouthful of profanity from the child, who knows there's not a damn thing the teacher can do so tied are their hands.
Talk about shooting oneself in the foot!! A nightmare of our own making.
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