You have probably heard the expression, "Spare the rod, spoil the child." Do you agree with it? Perhaps you were spanked as a kid. Was it appropriate? Some people see spanking as an outdated method of punishment or even child abuse, while others view a swat on the bottom as a parent's prerogative. Where do we draw the line when it comes to disciplining our children?
John Rosemond finds arguments over spanking of children become “hysterical” and we assume he means symptomatic of a nervous disorder and terribly funny. It is neither. More than one hundred nations have banned corporal punishment of children in schools and twenty four countries have banned it in all settings including homes. In the U.S. almost all states ban corporal punishment of children in child care, foster care, and institutions for children. They have not banned it because of a nervous disorder or because it is funny. They have banned it because states recognize the harm that results from corporal punishment of children and the inhumanity of its use.
What harm? And if it's inhuman, then why have human parents been spanking children for longer than history records? My detractors cannot prove, using objective evidence, that spanking per se is harmful, so they appeal to emotion. They have manufactured a quasi-scientific soap opera in order to conceal their real agenda, which is to insert government into the raising of children under the guise that this is really nothing more than the benign "village." When one cannot present objective data to support their argument, common sense opposes it, and they rely instead on appeals to the emotions of their audience, that qualifies as hysteria-mongering. No, it's anything but funny. Like most liberal schemes to bring about the perfect world according to their image, the attempt to ban spanking is an attempt to further restrict our liberties.
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