I hear all the time about how difficult it is to take newspaper editorials seriously any more. If you want to understand why so many people feel that way, you only need to look to the editorial gem that appears in today's local newspaper .... and no, it's not a spoof.
Earlier this week, Milwaukee Alderman Ashanti Hamilton was charged with felony child abuse for allegedly repeatedly striking his 6 year old child with a coat hanger. This led to a fascinating discussion yesterday on both radio and television about when parental discipline crosses the line.
The general consensus - and, I think, mainstream position - was that an occasional swat was okay but that beating a child with an outside instrumentality crosses any reasonable line. A couple people suggested that corporal punishment ("spare the rod") was always a good idea - but I'm pretty sure that this was a fringe position.
And, speaking of fringe positions, there's today's editorial.
I quote: "When does a spanking cross the line? Always. Should you ever spank a child? No. Is a swat ever OK? Never. Experts say hitting a child is never acceptable behavior. It teaches abuse. And we know that abuse leads to more abuse. We'll say it again: Hitting a child is never okay."
Let me get this straight. Your two-year old reaches for the hot stove after you've told him not to and you swat his hand. That's not okay? Are these editorial writers completely nuts?
Let's take another situation. Your three year old throws a fit in a grocery store - kicking, screaming, the whole nine yards. You swat her on the butt (mostly to get her attention) as you're dragging her out of the store. That's wrong? How progressively educated those editorial writers are.
To me, the hysteria surrounding a mild swat really amounts to the complete break down of common sense. Nobody in their right mind thinks that adults should beat or physically abuse children. At the same time, only a kook would be unable to tell the difference between a swat and a beating.
As children get older, the ability to use alternative disciplinary procedures increases exponentially. Still, it's tough to try to "reason with" a two-year old who keeps grabbing for the hot stove. Frankly, swatting his hand strikes me as a superior alternative to third-degree burns - but that's just me.
Many of us were educated by outstanding nuns who thought nothing of swatting our hands with rulers. We didn't turn out to be ax murderers or child abusers. Rather, most of us learned early on to behave ourselves.
Maybe the next time the editorial writers gather in a circle, hum "Kumbaya" and decide to tell parents how to raise their children, they should take their own advice - and give themselves a timeout. As they say, timeouts work.
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