not that I was a bad kid, you understand, but back then, spanking was the norm. I wonder who turned this guy into the 'authorities'?
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Same here. And we never cussed adults, at least not where we could be heard.

and I'd still be in prison. Funny watching my daughter correct my grands. Show out, tear up..

Why the kid of course!

I was brought up the same way, but "adults" were different then too.
I don't agree w/ kids cursing adults, but some "adults" sure don't act like one.

Yup. My Dad woulda givin' me a butt whippin for cussing an adult.


maddog

I had a shop teacher that was full of good quotes, one of which was-

"Nothing helps a kid like a pat on the back."


"If it is low enough and hard enough."


miles

I got the ass whoopin of my life when I cussed my Grandma under my breath and at a distance.

Turns out she was deaf all those years, and could read lips.

And there was nothing wrong with her eyesight, apparently.

Grandpa was wearing me out with belt leather and all the while I'm going, "What did I do? What did I do?"

My cousin later told me what the deal was...

Exactly! If I would have done that in front of my dad I still wouldn't be able to sit.

only time my Dad actually hit me, was when I was in high school. Mom had asked me, for the 20th time, to clean up my room. Not knowing Dad was home, I told her "Gee Mom, don't get bent out of shape over it".
A tap on the shoulder, a pop on the jaw. Down like a sack of oats. Never forgot that lesson, and I NEVER spoke disrespectfully to Mom again.

Yeah, I remember telling dad to 'get off my back' one time.

He threw a picnic table complete with Sunday lunch at me. Don't remember too much after that.

You guys had it tough. I was never beaten. On Sundays.

As I recall.

In high school, i went into another room and gave dad the finger.

It was silhouetted on the wall.

He chased me around the dining table, while my brother called mum at work telling her to come home, that he was going to kill me.

I messed up, and ran into the living room, cornering myself, and was tackled.

I covered up the best I could until it was over.

I didn't tug on Superman's cape for awhile after that.

Aaaaaah, mem-ries.

Not if you were bright anyways.

On one hand , I do not like the idea of hitting an 8 year old kid. On the other,if he did cuss at an adult,well,WTF ,he probably needed a lesson.

Central Islip,Long Island N.Y. It does not surprise me someone called the authorities. Way too many ,not right in the head peeps,on this "Island"

Yeah I know,I'm one of 'em. I stay waaay East though

New York...need I say more. Sad it even went that far

my dad use to beat my younger brothers and i, when when we were kids, till i was 16 and stuck a shotgun in his face and told him if he ever did it again i'd kill him. it stopped after that, he never beat on any of us again, my brothers still got SPANKED when they needed it but no more beatings.

Worse damn thing was grandpa making you go out and pick a switch. That was like walking the green mile.

STXHunter,

Only you and your brothers know if it was a beat down -vs- a spanking.

Yeah, that's a catch 22.

Bring back a limp switch and then he was going to go and get his own uber cane.

As opposed to getting a suitable one and knowing that you picked it.

My Mom used to send my twin sister to the orange grove to pick a suitable switch when I transgressed. Sis never failed to find one that suited Mom just fine.

true, my father also quit drinking shortly after that, so that went along way in it stopping, we're all a very close family now. my dad lives with me and will for the rest of his days.

There's something wrong when a father disciplines his child for being disrespectful to an adult and he has to defend his actions. There would have been an imprint in the drywall had I done so growing up. Another fine example of what is going wrong in our country.

And yet, when public canings are suggested, the idea has no merit. Go figure.

Back in the day, the judge would've insisted that the kid appear in court to testify.

So he could give the kid an ass-whuppin too.

....and had I cussed a adult as a eight year old, my ass would still be sore 40+ years later!

No normal person wants to see an 8 year old get hit. But unfortunately that's all they understand sometimes. They remember that a lot longer than a lecture and a time out. Authorities don't want parents disciplining their kids with a little force, but later in life when they act out from the lack of discipline they have no problem slapping them with felony records to screw up the rest of their lives.

Mann, I bet that led to some good sibling rivalry.

she laughs about that to this day. Me, not so much.

I was the oldest of 12--I was 13 when 12th child was born. I was expected to set the example so I got more lickin's than any of the rest.

Mom would grab your arm and paddle your butt on occasion--didn't hurt much but was quite a shock.

Major transgression required the belt from Dad--he made a big spectacle out of taking it off and making you bend over the couch--then he would proceed to beat hell outta the couch--didn't hurt at all--but it did make a lasting impression on ya.

I'm sure my father went to his grave very proud of the fact that his children were well behaved in public.

In public 'Children are to be seen but not heard'--I grew up thinking that was a law or something handed down from God to Moses or something.

ever since my son was a young age, his wrong doings were not responded to by being hit or spanked, they were responded to by we talking about making a right choice or a wrong choice.. and if he had to do it over again, which one would he make...

That has worked out pretty well...it bothers me when I see adults being physical on kids... they learn that is the way to do it, and they do the same thing when they grow up to their kids...

sounds like a real 'liberal environment'? not really.. my son is a very conservative kid, and all of his teachers and adults he has been around, have always commented on his level of maturity and reliability compared to others.. and how he knows how to be very respectful to adults...

He didn't get yelled at either... I was that mad, I walked off until I calmed down...and we had level headed discussions on doing life the right way or wrong way...

same worked with my wife's boys from her first marriage.. they were little brats to beat the band.. that changed by not hitting them, but by talking things out and when they did something good, I'd ask them how did that feel? they'd answer "pretty good".. and when something wrong they felt bad, and they would say so...and my response was 'see how all this stuff works?'

they responded to it...

In Scouting, we can't breathe wrong on a kid... so I discussed 'the problem' with kids when they were being an issue to deal with.... at first, you'd get these wiseazzes that would tell me "you're not my dad! you can't tell me what to do!"

My response was " you aren't being told what to do, you're being shown how to make a right choice, instead of a wrong choice....
and your first choice is...you and me can have this conversation... or you, me and your dad can have this conversation... which one do you want?"... none ever seemed to want their dad as part of the conversation...

but you can show the kid the right way, most will respond to it.. they crave consistency and crave feeling like their opinions matter...and they personally matter... the need to do so is an opportunity as an adult or parent...

do I think parents need to end up in front of child services? not in many cases that they are called over....

but many kids are the product of what their parents have created... and many of the parents I see with kids who have discipline issues... its the parent ya feel like beating the crap out of.....

When a child does wrong, how many have ever taken the path of hugging the child, telling them you love them.. telling them they are NOT in trouble... but that you and they need to talk about what they just did... and maybe another choice would have been better.....

always worked with the kids I have been around and my own...

Don't recall spanking my kids. Certainly not a belt.

I am first to say that, in its way, I probably deserved everyone one I got, but I can also say that those memories taught me more about being a different type of parent than mine were.

Not that they were wrong, or I am right. Or vice versa.

Just different.

i never had to hit my kids, the fact i was disappointed in them was enough.

My dad spanked me and I'm thankful he did. I still get chills when I pull my belt thru the loops real quick. I spank mine. Not fun to do. I don't just walk in and start whackin away at them because I had a bad day, but sometimes it is necessary. Spare the rod, spoil the child. And as a teacher I've seen the lack of spanking by the "enlightened" parents and the results are an entire generation of buttholes with a few quality specimens sprinkled in (usually the offspring of parents that give a rip about their children as a PARENT, and not their kid's friend).

I know that if I had cursed an adult, or for that matter cursed in general (within earshot), my dad would half killed me. TWICE!!

I remember having to do that as well. Trying to pick one JUST good enough to satisfy my dad, without getting one TOO good. In my case, we had an australian pine in the back yard, and, if you're not familiar with them, new trees sprout off of the roots of the existing tree. Man, those saplings stung!

I definitely don't like having to spank any child, and much prefer to discipline them by talking. However, some times, with some kids, that just does not work. The 5 at home now, I very seldom ever have to do more (rarely at that), than tell them that they better straighten up, or get a date with Woodie ( my paddle). My oldest boy, grown up and moved on, was a different story. When he had his mind made up to not behave, the ONLY thing, that would persuade him otherwise, was a couple of swift licks on his butt.

And that's all it took.
Sounds like a good man!

Sometimes a kid does need a whack, and if you don't discipline your kid while they are young and easily corrected, they'll be a terror when they are older.

As far as kids turning you in, that's pretty easy to deal with. I pick up the phone and say, go ahead and call them. If you think your standard of living is going to be better in foster care, go for it.

that was my mom. had a peach tree out the front door. and if you came back with a 6 inch twig it added to the sentence. didn't affect me, affect me, affect me,
t

HAHAHAHA thats awesome

Saw mention of this subject elsewhere today and heard it mentioned as an issue.

It should not be an issue at all as there are times in child rearing where lengthy discussions, reasoning, and votes can not instantaneously solve a problem

If it borders on abuse, then there can be problems. While I've witnessed some public displays that were questionable and obviously in poor taste, I've not become involved.

There's plenty of testimony in support, and I see swift and sure punishment delivered across the full spectrum of the animal kingdom every day.

I believe that if a kid is not straightened up by age 12 - he (or she) will be a continuing problem.
I've been accused of being the model for that theory, by some.

had a buddy in high school that was a real punk toward his mom... he'd shove her out of his room, push her, yell at her etc...

more than once I saw his dad ( who was hard of hearing due to being an artillery officer in WW 2 ) come into his room and just tell his son, " I am very disappointed in you son..." and then leave...

This made this kid George just cry his heart out....he would say that he wish his dad would slap him or hit him, when he was mad at him or his actions...but his dad's 'disappointment' cut him deeper than hitting him ever would...

I learned from Major Dively.... the other thing I saw with his son and him.....anticipation of the potential punishment was always much more impact, than the punishment itself.... fear of the unknown I guess...

he'd act that way toward his mother when his father wasn't around... she was an obnoxious loud mouth b^tch...but when his dad was home, he'd tow the line like crazy...almost a totally different person....

We had a drill Sargent like that in basic also...he didn't yell at his troops, he'd come up beside your head and whisper to you, so you had to strain to hear what he was saying....scared the crap out of all of his troops...

During some time between assignments in Fort Sill I used to help with the trainees.

The E-5 I was assisting told me point blank that I couldn't yell convincingly to save my ass, so just stick to being a subtle d!ckhead, as it seemed that was my forte, and it ended up garnering a better response than the alternative.

The key was to keep the subtle and drop the d!ckhead part when I became a dad.

there has always been a line between child abuse, and corporal punishment. They are not the same.
Spare the rod, and spoil the child has had a valid basis throughout history.
When I had to spank my kids, I felt worse than they did, because by having to lay a hand on them, I was admitting I did a poor job in raising them. Still, better to catch bad behavior, and correct it, than to just let it continue.
We all have different life experiences, and many of us feel strongly one way or the other with this issue.