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From: debbiem@rruxe.UUCP (D. McBurnett)
Newsgroups: net.kids,net.legal,net.politics
Subject: Re: corporal punishment in schools (really bedtimes)
Message-ID: <290@rruxe.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 11-Sep-85 22:58:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: rruxe.290
Posted: Wed Sep 11 22:58:05 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Sep-85 11:27:29 EDT
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>I have never had a specific "bedtime".  My parents usually went to sleep
>at about 9:00 or so, and they would tell me that it was time to go to
>sleep, but I was free to stay up until I felt it was time to go to sleep.
>    One question:  What are the reasons people have for setting specific
>bedtimes for their children?  How about curfews? (I never had one either)

I can answer this one.  If we let my four-year-old son stay up until
he wanted to go to sleep, we would wake up in the morning to total
wreckage in the living room.  He would also be very likely to come
wake us up at 11:00 to say that he wanted something to eat and
couldn't reach it, or that he wanted to sing us a song, or he wanted
us to tell him a story before he went to sleep....ad nauseum.  I
know, because this is what he does at 6:00 in the morning, even
though we have repeatedly told him NOT to come wake us up at such an
ungodly hour for such reasons (and  yes, he does know how to tell
time, so he knows what he's doing when he's doing it).

I had a curfew until I was in highschool, for safety's sake.  Our
rule was, head for home when the street lights came on.  When I got
to be in high school, my folks figured I was bright enough to watch
out for myself and lifted the curfew.  Basically the story was the
same with bedtime (except obiously bedtime was later than curfew).
I always thought this arrangement was pretty sensible.  Still do.
I can't see why anybody would be willing to let their kids run the
show and arrange their lives completely around the children's
decisions on bedtimes (which is the way it would end up in our
house), and I can't see how a parent could be indifferent to their
children's safety on the issue of a curfew.

Debbie McBurnett
rruxe!debbiem