I admit it: I'm more old-fashioned than I care to be in some areas and on one subject in particular I'm a coot. That subject is almost taboo these days. If you are sensitive, turn away now because no one wants to force you to absorb the following opinion. I have a lingering attachment to corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is a fancy, Latin way of saying "hitting people for their own good.
Oh please, don't get me confused with one of these freaks who chains his kids inside a closet for years and makes them pee in a mayonnaise jar. I decry child abuse as much as the next person who goes on a crying jab while watching "ER," but when did corporal punishment become synonymous with abuse? It is wrong to dismiss simple spanking as abuse. In fact, we all know that the opposite is true: Spare the rod, spoil the child and these days, a kid gone bad can be a literal menace to society walking, biking or driving around with no concern for the consequences of their actions let alone empathy or simple politeness.
Frankly, I'm damn tired of the attitudes I see in kids from 8 to 18 these days, and it's the fault of their weak-ass parents who insist on being their kids buddies.
Here is the thing about kids: Children are not morally responsible individuals capable of understanding the difference between right and wrong. You cannot have an intelligent discussion with a 5-year-old about the personal and societal consequences of their actions and have it stick without putting some spank down.
To a kid, not being spanked is as good as getting off Scot free and you know it. And spanking is for their own good, too. You cannot explain to someone who has no real understanding of pain let alone a realistic concept of their own mortality why they should not run out into traffic. They want to know why. It's nature's way, believe me. By the time most kids get to their teens these days, they're borderline sociopaths capable of anything from harassment to sniper shootings.
