http://tinyurl.com/9s2zeew

I assumed that they were teaching reading, writing and arithmetic, not religion.

http://www.examiner.com/article/va-teacher-charged-after-injuring-girl-forced-to-do-islamic-hand-signs

There may be special circumstances (my 8 year old is autistic, and just doesn’t get almost anything dealing with social interaction/appropriate behavior … his brain truly is wired differently to make it near impossible for him) but the general population (and all four of my other kids) get exactly what you have been saying. The oldest (now 27) thanks me all the time for it. The next two not as much, but I really think they are catching on to what I’ve been saying all along, sometimes less, sometimes more.

I’ll add one thing though … while the totally free wheeling of the mom is not what I would call wonderful I would say somewhat more nurturing is typical for mom, less for dad. It may be politically incorrect, but I think it is normal and right that it work that way. (Debbie, my first wife, while she lived could discipline the kids … but not as firmly as I, and Jean is the same way).

The thing I struggle with the most is my autistic son … one of the women at our church saw my 8 and 6 year-old running down the hall at church, and read the riot act to them both. The 6-year-old broke down in tears on the floor, the 8-year-old she said was looking at her like about the same as if she had handed him the words written on a page. (BTW, I thanked her for helping me with discipline of my children … at least at church I can hope for appropriate help in raising my kids!).

The freedom to choose to kill one’s unborn child harms another human being — the unborn child.

If you choose not to pay attention in class, fine. But do not demand welfare checks because you are too uneducated to get a job. If you want to question every order your boss gives you, fine. But once again, do not demand that others support you because you cannot keep a job.

If you want to do drugs, I think that should be legal, too. However, do not demand that others support you because you cannot hold a job. Do not demand that others pay for your healthcare when you eat too much, drink too much, smoke too much, and don’t exercise enough.

The biggest problem with liberals is that they want all the freedom and none of the responsibility.

You can love your highly structured lives..just let me live a life with more freedom to choose. I will teach my children how to make good choices rather than how to follow orders.

Oh I am watching closely and while I jest, I am just as “hard” on her as her bros. She is entering HS this year and I know things can turn on a dime there but between me and my partner, I believe this one will turn out fine as well. As I told Jack earlier, I am blessed, I know I am blessed, and I am incredibily thankful for my blessings.

While that is partially true, the WHOLE truth is that violence is the last refuge of everyone else, too. (John 2:15) It’s just that the incompetent get there sooner.

And, despite the headline, buried in the article hey say “Although these effects were somewhat small” – I’d have to say of the population physically spanking a 1-year-old is that they probably have a whole host of other possible environmental issues that may be causing this “small” difference.

For example, after a relative’s recent tour at a NICU, the sheer number of occurrences of fetal alcohol, opioid, and narcotic syndromes in that population could more than explain this “small” difference.

I’m sure you can find similar links between physical and verbal punishment of children with ADHD and impulse control problems – but that doesn’t mean punishment causes these conditions, instead it’s far more likely that these conditions “caused” the punishment on the part of frustrated parents. Similarly, it’s likely that the sunrise occurs despite the rooster crowing, and not because of it.

Not that I’m advocating for corporal punishment for children – I agree with Eric on this one, it’s usually the hallmark of a lazy or ineffective parent who lacks parental skills or patience.

But this “study” sounds suspiciously like confirmation bias ….

I would suggest that, without the existence and mutual understanding of that sequence, mere first warnings will have no effect. I see that as the problem with those “socializing” parents you mention. The mutually understood sequence is missing. They go immediately from non-action to a hitherto uncharacteristic actual punishment. In that I will agree with the term “lazy.” I also think that these are situations which can lead to child abuse involving unthinking anger and loss of control.

My own parents utilized that sequence to the max and developed an acute judgement as to whether or not we were listening and understood the potential consequences. As a result, we kids came to understand the situation fully; and the final stage of the sequence — corporal punishment — became an extreme rarity. Dad was, in effect, the “First Sergeant” in the house. He meant what he said. And he never forgot. You could count on it. And he got what he was aiming for. He spent his life as a blue collar factory worker. He wound up with children and grandchildren with more college degrees than you can shake a stick at and with honorable and succesful professional careers. And they all grieved at the death of the old blue collar patriarch. Our own “First Sergeant” had crossed the bar.

Ed — You are way off base here. It would appear that you have never really been in a situation where discipline is required in order for critical work on a time schedule to get done. Having an opinion is one thing. Using that opinion to disrupt and to sidetrack the lawful mission is quite another. Are you seriously suggesting that Mrs. Wolverine shoud have allowed the opinions of the most dispruptive students in her classes to dictate the daily course of her assigned teaching mission? Opinion can be stated. It does not have to be accepted. Nor does the lack of acceptance justify petulant disruption — which is sometimes the case in a classroom. Frankly, Ed, you talk a theory game; but I personally do not think you would survive for very long in a position of legal authority with a defined mission and the expectation of results.

“Well, Captain, I did not carry out your orders to repaint the gun turrets because Seaman Smith and Seaman Jones used their right of free speech to lodge disagreement with and a protest against those orders.” Good luck, Ed. See you on the quarterdeck in hot-as-hell Subic Bay standing your officer of the watch shift in dress whites and sword.

I have good kids who were easy and I NEVER backed down when they tested me (no matter how much of a pain in the ass it might have been at the time TO STOP what I was doing and address the situation). But it did not take long for them to understand that I mean what I say and I say what I mean and I WILL follow through on my warnings. My first born took the brunt of that sort of thing and I think he warned the others. My youngest is perfect..and that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with her being my only daughter..