I was in Wal-Mart the other day when a group of young teenagers walked by, and I overheard one of them make the following statement: “I wish my parents would just die already and leave everything they have to me.” The sad part is, judging by the serious look on his face, I don’t think he was kidding.
In all of my days, I have NEVER been mad enough at my parents to say something like that, even in jest. It seems that many kids these days have no respect whatsoever for their parents and other people in positions of authority over them. Of course there are indeed bad parents in the world, but I have always been amazed at the capacity of abused and neglected children to love their parents even when they received little love from them in return.
I could be wrong, but I believe the primary reason for the growing animosity some kids have towards their elders is the way government has interfered in our family lives and in the schools. When I was growing up, if a kid said or did something out of line while in class, the teacher could (and usually would) get out the paddle and give him/her something to think about. That option has all but disappeared in our public schools, and these days kids know they can do or say pretty much anything they want without receiving any real punishment.
And as if that isn’t bad enough, the situation is even worse at home. Most parents are now afraid to discipline their kids due to the very real threat of child abuse charges being levied by over-zealous Social Services offices all across the nation. Spanking is no longer an acceptable punishment, leaving non-effective actions such as “timeouts” and “grounding” as the only options available to frustrated parents.
I can say with absolute certainty that no parent has ever loved her child more than my mom loved hers, and I can recall many a time when she would send us kids out to the woods to cut our own “switch”. And believe me, she used it, and used it quite well. If she “whipped” us today, she would undoubtedly go to jail and/or lose custody of her kids, and that would be a true shame because no one on the planet could have ever loved us and cared for us as much as mom.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly NOT advocating real child abuse, either by teachers and principals or by parents. But I AM advocating the judicious use of corporal punishment whenever and wherever it is needed in order to instill and maintain discipline in a child. I grew up getting “whippings” when I deserved them, and I thank the good Lord that I grew up in a day and time when they were allowed. If I hadn’t, I hate to think what kind of life I might be living today.
Mom, thanks for all of the love and kindness you gave to me and my brothers and sister when we were growing up. And thanks most of all for loving us enough to “wear us out” when we needed it.