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"When I was your age I got whooped all the time and I came out alright" says the parent who did not come out alright, left with an internalized belief that abus

"When I was your age I got whooped all the time and I came out alright" says the parent who did not come out alright, left with an internalized belief that abusing children is totally fine.

titzer 5y ago
No, the ones who come out alright get whooped just once.
blindmute 5y ago
Do you really think that for 5000 years, throughout which physical punishment was the norm, nobody was "alright"? And that only in the last 50 years of human existence have we started to realize how to raise children "correctly"? We can ignore the swiftly rising depression rates among children for the sake of the argument.
- RobLach 5y ago
  Do you have a justification for implying that adolescent depression stems from the lack of abuse? I'd point to half a dozen potential other reasons that immediately spring to mind. And, to answer your first 2 questions: yes.
  - blindmute 5y ago
    Please stop equating physical punishment with abuse. I did not say the word abuse, so don't make a straw man of me. Abuse is, by definition, negative. We can't have any kind of discussion about whether physical punishment is negative or positive if you can't distinguish it from abuse. Our entire society is quite literally based around physical punishment for law breaking, in that you go to jail. Society does not function with solely positive reinforcement. I'm sorry about this, and I don't like it either, but it's just a fact of life. I fail to see any justification for the strange idea that a child or adolescent should never be punished physically, but an adult should be. If there exist adults who are deterred from bad behavior due to the consequences, and they obviously do exist, why do you think that such adolescents don't also exist? For such adolescents who don't respond to gentler measures, a spanking may very well deter the bad behavior. I very seriously do not understand why this is debated. In regards to the historical context, I find your opinion on that myopic and egoistic.
- npteljes 5y ago
  There are beautiful flowers growing in the cracks of the asphalt, but that doesn't mean that it's the best place for them to grow.

"When I was your age I got whooped all the time and I came out alright" says the parent who did not come out alright, left with an internalized belief that abusing children is totally fine.

titzer 5y ago

No, the ones who come out alright get whooped just once.

blindmute 5y ago

Do you really think that for 5000 years, throughout which physical punishment was the norm, nobody was "alright"? And that only in the last 50 years of human existence have we started to realize how to raise children "correctly"? We can ignore the swiftly rising depression rates among children for the sake of the argument.

RobLach 5y ago
Do you have a justification for implying that adolescent depression stems from the lack of abuse? I'd point to half a dozen potential other reasons that immediately spring to mind. And, to answer your first 2 questions: yes.
- blindmute 5y ago
  Please stop equating physical punishment with abuse. I did not say the word abuse, so don't make a straw man of me. Abuse is, by definition, negative. We can't have any kind of discussion about whether physical punishment is negative or positive if you can't distinguish it from abuse. Our entire society is quite literally based around physical punishment for law breaking, in that you go to jail. Society does not function with solely positive reinforcement. I'm sorry about this, and I don't like it either, but it's just a fact of life. I fail to see any justification for the strange idea that a child or adolescent should never be punished physically, but an adult should be. If there exist adults who are deterred from bad behavior due to the consequences, and they obviously do exist, why do you think that such adolescents don't also exist? For such adolescents who don't respond to gentler measures, a spanking may very well deter the bad behavior. I very seriously do not understand why this is debated. In regards to the historical context, I find your opinion on that myopic and egoistic.
npteljes 5y ago
There are beautiful flowers growing in the cracks of the asphalt, but that doesn't mean that it's the best place for them to grow.