I think I see something.

Post #47,810 by static 8/2/02 12:53:00 AM Reply	I think I see something. Your response suggests that you consider a smacking a poor first choice of discipline. I've been watching how my brother and sister-in-law raise my niece (she's 2 and a bit). They smack, but it is never the first choice of discipline. In fact, it doesn't happen much at all. I've also always seen it only after Paige knows she is being disobedient. That said, my brother and his wife love their daughter very much and she knows it. Smacks are always clearly directed in response to a particular action by her. Wade. "Ah. One of the difficult questions."
Post #47,822 by ben_tilly 8/2/02 6:49:01 AM Reply	Kinda right Physical force is a poor first choice for sure. (Tone of voice, etc.) A poor second as well. (Timeouts etc.) A poor n'th as long as reasonable alternatives for escalation exist at step n. Eventually all discipline comes down to physical force. If nothing else, then force in the form of police officers and jails. However there is no need to be in a hurry to go to those limits, and the use of discipline should not be the primary focus of parenting. (IMHO of course.) What is funny is how many people can hear and accept that this has been discovered to apply for, say, dogs but then won't accept that it applies to their own children... Cheers, Ben "Perl is like vice grips. You can do anything with it, and it's the wrong tool for every job." --Unknown
Post #47,839 by Ashton 8/2/02 10:44:50 AM Reply	Slogans like, "spare the rod, spoil the child" don't die any quicker than the other slogans - as defy original thought. I can see how the point about the dog might be grasped, and the point about a child missed. Can't you? Maybe 'empathy' is too loaded a term to describe a frequent lacking. We are not inherently rational creatures IMhO, especially towards other creatures - I believe that is merely the hobby of a few. Notice how long it has taken to barely imagine.. the intelligence of whales, say. And til quite recently: of 'negroes'. Here anyway. In many ways, small children are seen as 'negroes' too. (I believe they 'see' lots more than is credited, but lack the language - certainly exceptional ones make this manifest) Ashton
Post #47,855 by orion 8/2/02 12:56:11 PM Reply	Difference between a dog and a child when a dog pees on the rug, you rub its nose into it. You don't do that to a child. Children are also smarter than dogs, well mostly. *I am free now, to choose my own destiny.*
Post #47,865 by deSitter 8/2/02 2:03:50 PM Reply	ok.. Agreed, you don't rub a kid's nose in it when he pees on your rug. You dunk his head in the toilet :) -drl

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