General Discussion

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)

79. For those of you who think kids in the past were always well behaved,

Sun Jan 31, 2016, 09:58 PM

Jan 2016

go read the first couple of chapters of "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It's about her husband, Almanzo Wilder as a little boy in northern New York State.

And if you don't happen to have a copy handy, here's what happens: The older boys at the one-room school house Almanzo attends make it their mission to see to it that a schoolteacher never finishes a term. If they can't misbehave so badly he leaves, they'll beat him up. The current schoolteacher is determined not to let that happen to him, because the previous teacher was a friend of his. And the older boys beat him so badly he died.

Yeah, kids today are uniformly worse than they were in the past. Horse pucky.

I'm also pretty close to 70 myself, and I recall a LOT of talk about "juvenile delinquents" back in the '50s. But kids in the past were uniformly respectful and law-abiding? No. What too many older people are guilty of is selective memory.

Which is not to defend crappy parents of badly behaved kids. However, this isn't as new a phenomenon as some like to pretend.

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Highlight:

Is It OK To Spank A Misbehaving Child Once In A While? [View all] Purveyor Jan 2016 OP

Only if they get to do the same thing to you when you are old and dependent on them. n/t Peregrine Took Jan 2016 #1

Best answer of all. Cleita Jan 2016 #31

+10000 wordpix Jan 2016 #68

like you, I have no children, so also try not to judge, having seen some truly horrendous niyad Jan 2016 #2

I was spanked, but snot Jan 2016 #3

I was spanked and worse loyalsister Jan 2016 #60

Is violence the best way to solve problems, especially with little kids? FSogol Jan 2016 #4

I suspect that this would be sensitive subject for some bpositive Jan 2016 #5

+1 TubbersUK Jan 2016 #78

Yes, of course - but only if they're being petronius Jan 2016 #6

Or put corn flakes in fried chicken. AngryAmish Jan 2016 #24

No, not in my opinion. elleng Jan 2016 #7

This message was self-deleted by its author 1000words Jan 2016 #8

Scootch over, these are always fun. I brought beer. beam me up scottie Jan 2016 #10

This message was self-deleted by its author 1000words Jan 2016 #12

You look like a corn flakes fried chicken person. AngryAmish Jan 2016 #25

Well you look like you let your pit bull breast feed at Walmart! It's ON!!! beam me up scottie Jan 2016 #28

I don't drink with you! AngryAmish Jan 2016 #54

You know it's gonna go to the hifiguy Jan 2016 #27

No Kalidurga Jan 2016 #9

What I love most of all in these discussions... Orrex Jan 2016 #11

One swat on the butt, which is all I ever got, hifiguy Jan 2016 #13

My experience as well. To get my attention more than anything. elias49 Jan 2016 #22

Yep. It meant "pay attention and smarten up." hifiguy Jan 2016 #26

Spanking is the easy way out kdmorris Jan 2016 #14

You have apparently, never met my father... Drahthaardogs Jan 2016 #42

I was spanked as a child - on my arm or rear end - LiberalElite Jan 2016 #45

No. katsy Jan 2016 #15

Do I get to spank Ted Cruz when he says something he knows is false? mythology Jan 2016 #16

At a laudramat there was a toddler and a baby angstlessk Jan 2016 #17

No. It's a lazy tactic that teaches children hitting's okay. Logical consequences pnwmom Jan 2016 #18

You left out the most odious part, where he said that America should spank HRC. pnwmom Jan 2016 #19

NO! handmade34 Jan 2016 #20

No abelenkpe Jan 2016 #21

Well, I think too many people onecent Jan 2016 #23

"Kids today are worthless?" Not the ones I know. Bit dramatic, aren't ya? vanlassie Jan 2016 #35

What a strange fantasy rjsquirrel Jan 2016 #38

You must not know many kids. gollygee Jan 2016 #39

Heh. Reminds me of this classic from Bye Bye Birdie LiberalElite Jan 2016 #47

huh? Texasgal Jan 2016 #41

Um, wow. tammywammy Jan 2016 #46

That's what old people were saying 60 years ago about your generation. and 60 Dorian Gray Jan 2016 #50

When you were a kid nobody got a new phone, because they were owned by the phone co. LeftyMom Jan 2016 #64

"and sometimes used as murder weapons in the movies." KentuckyWoman Jan 2016 #75

OMG. n/t jen63 Jan 2016 #71

I hear you. KentuckyWoman Jan 2016 #74

Yikes ! TubbersUK Jan 2016 #76

For those of you who think kids in the past were always well behaved, SheilaT Jan 2016 #79

Would you physically beat an adult? guillaumeb Jan 2016 #29

This message was self-deleted by its author 1000words Jan 2016 #32

This is assault. Nothing heroic. guillaumeb Jan 2016 #44

A spanking and a beating are two different things. ManiacJoe Jan 2016 #55

What is the distinction between the two? guillaumeb Jan 2016 #70

The difference is the purpose and the results. ManiacJoe Feb 2016 #83

A spanking is humiliating to the recipient, and dehumanizes and desensitizing to the giver. guillaumeb Feb 2016 #85

If you cannot tell the difference, it is good that you don't spank. ManiacJoe Feb 2016 #87

I have three grown children. guillaumeb Feb 2016 #88

No. Personal opinion. eom saltpoint Jan 2016 #30

No. frogmarch Jan 2016 #33

We don't spank mrs_p Jan 2016 #34

No it is not rurallib Jan 2016 #36

Never eom rjsquirrel Jan 2016 #37

No. N/t gollygee Jan 2016 #40

Growing up in the 70's my younger brother Texasgal Jan 2016 #43

no H2O Man Jan 2016 #48

Spanking is child abuse. Odin2005 Jan 2016 #49

I don't recall either of my parents ever spanking me with their hands. CBGLuthier Jan 2016 #51

How many times have I seen a mother say, gvstn Jan 2016 #52

No. n/t Little Tich Jan 2016 #53

I know a little boy named Donald who could benefit from a swift kick in the tukkas... lindysalsagal Jan 2016 #56

No laundry_queen Jan 2016 #57

No. BlueStater Jan 2016 #58

Yes Des Moines De Mon Jan 2016 #59

I'm okay with a pop on the behind infrequently, but physically striking over and over - NO! Lil Missy Jan 2016 #61

Would it depend on what we hope to teach? LiberalAndProud Jan 2016 #62

Yes, as long as it is a last resort and you are not angry when you do it. Feeling the Bern Jan 2016 #63

If all you have left to offer is physical dominance over your kids quaker bill Jan 2016 #65

No. Warren Stupidity Jan 2016 #66

I don't have kids but resist the idea we should be telling parents MH1 Jan 2016 #67

I've read all the arguments for and against. OnionPatch Jan 2016 #69

I would likely end up spanking a child....which is why I never had them. KentuckyWoman Jan 2016 #72

I have one adult child and two teenagers. GreenEyedLefty Jan 2016 #73

I was spanked gelatinous cube Jan 2016 #77

I was spanked regularly as a child... Armymedic88 Jan 2016 #80

Okay... Interesting. Nt Purveyor Jan 2016 #82

I didn't have difficult kids, but I tried to find something cry baby Jan 2016 #81

I would like to spank Ted Cruz olddots Feb 2016 #84

In my opinion, no. It's usually a sign that the parent has simply lost patience. NaturalHigh Feb 2016 #86

"[if] the five-year-old, says something she knows to be false, she gets a spanking." Atman Feb 2016 #89

As a psychiatrist Shankapotomus Feb 2016 #90

I only punished my kids by time outs, extra chores, or defenestration Bucky Feb 2016 #91

We need to put an end to this "Only parents know how to parent" bullshit. Act_of_Reparation Feb 2016 #92

I would stop short of "wrong", but I do think it's inadvisable. n/t lumberjack_jeff Feb 2016 #93

I never spanked because I had been spanked OldHippieChick Feb 2016 #94