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From: joel@peora.UUCP (Joel Upchurch)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Re: corporal punishment in schools (
Message-ID: <1583@peora.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 5-Sep-85 14:15:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: peora.1583
Posted: Thu Sep  5 14:15:26 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Sep-85 05:49:25 EDT
References: <1075@sphinx.UUCP> <7800422@inmet.UUCP>
Organization: Perkin-Elmer SDC, Orlando, Fl.
Lines: 46

>From: janw@inmet.UUCP (Jan Wasilewsky)
>Two examples are not much of a base for induction. I've seen per-
>fect little monsters who were regularly beaten (and seemed to ask
>for it) and well-disciplined kids who never were. The other way,
>too, of course.

        The reason they seemed to be asking  for  it,  was  that  they
        probably were.  I've seen many parents who pay no attention to
        their children, except to punish them.  These children quickly
        learn  that  the only way to get their parents attention is to
        misbehave.  The child wants  attention  and  will  endure  the
        punishment  to  get  it.  So the parent is in effect rewarding
        their misbehavior.  And they wonder why their kids are  little
        monsters!

        I believe that it just as important to reward good behavior as
        to  punish  bad,  but  that  omitting  either  one will have a
        unsatisfactory result and that punishments and rewards must be
        swiftly and consistently applied.  If this is done skillfully,
        the parent may rarely have to punish the  child,  because  the
        child will quickly learn that punishment is swift and sure.

        This is all very time consuming and many parents  today  don't
        seem  willing  to  spend  the  time  and effort to raise their
        children properly.  They are too 'busy'.  I think they  forget
        that  raising  their  children  is probably the most important
        thing they will ever do.

        This causes  me  some  serious  reservations  about  day  care
        centers.  Even  if  they have the skill and the inclination to
        do the job properly, where will they get the time?

        I also think that it is foolish to try and reason with a small
        child.  They  are  not  miniature  adults and to try and treat
        them as such is a big  mistake.  You  might  as  well  try  to
        reason  with  a puppy to housebreak it.  With a older child it
        may be useful to explain  why  they  should  or  shouldn't  do
        something, but only after they have developed the intelligence
        and acquired the experience to understand the explanation.

        I also believe that schools should be able to  spank  children
        that  misbehave,  but  that  if  the  child hasn't been reared
        correctly to begin with, and that if that  discipline  is  not
        reinforced  in  the home, the likelyhood of it being effective
        is not great.  The school can,  at  best,  reinforce  parental
        discipline.  It is not a substitute for it.