OCR Text |
Show ?f10 SPANK OR NOT TO SPANK. I 4fl N unusual and moat interesting let-'liwi let-'liwi "tcr has Just come to me and I print ' lMr It i0T lne cntortalninent of read-V read-V era and thc dcslro obtaln-F obtaln-F ' J jng their opinions oa tho views held JrLtis writer: gF'lwlsh to plead with you to say a word WLfro in the Influential Corner about that Lelent and honorable ' institution ifech hafi f suffered from the attacks w -Bcrtnks during the last few years tnklng. Kjjjs blessed old punishment is rap. jfegiLly ttcomo oxtlnct. How many of these IfiBLr Hitle bare legged, half hosed girls E;ouriknow" what it ia to fool the slap of Hlnclc, the paddlo, the slipper, or tho 9P brush on their bare hipa when they if ireniugbty? Very few, and It's certainly IS ( pjiy, They aro being spoiled for altar fg e by the ridiculous Ideas of a f ow cranka Without children, generally. pS ujn W childhood punishment and puiklng vere synonymous. I received j frequently, not cruolly, but soundly, Ed I am deeply grateful for those spank-Ji, spank-Ji, iff today. It was a matter of course rjien I was naughty. I was told that I "i m to ba spanked and why, and then Wf across my mother's lap with my jfi- ia bo arranged as not to Interfere, and f tj bare buttocks were soundly spanked. bo Instrument of punishment varied & kr trivial offenses a few warm slaps with j ii baro band, for moro serious ones tho j iipper or tho shlnglo. This kind of pun's pun-'s ihment Is absolutely harmless as to per-i per-i iient Injury, while the smarting hurt Is . onderfully effective In teaching obedl- ccc. J !rtI remember ono Instance In my own fj wo vividly. I) was about 12 years old lad I was Impudent and Baucy. I had kought I was too old to bo spanked and , bercfore Immuno and ablo to aay what V; pleated. My mother quietly Informed aflKt I was to bo spanked. What was my BBiasternatlon! To bo spanked; a girl am " In vain I pleaded and begged. I was Wh) be spanked and that was all thoro was SjBwlt, She went to her room and roturned . Bhith t slipper- Can you Imagino my fecial! feci-al! Itiga? She seated herself and gently but f flrraly turned up my skirts, so that they j .would not bo In the way, then she laid mo icrfl hor lap with my bare hips across J fcer right knee. What humiliation I felt! . -jX tioufand thoughts ran through my 3 -ralni Would It hurt? Was I really going '. to jet a spanking? Then sho proceeded U 'to Inflict tho punishment. It did hurtJ i4 in vain I promised to be good and strug-w strug-w if ltd to free myself from that rain of blows Ii the slipper on my posterior. Final-was Final-was over, and I can asure you that punishment received thon and the Illation of It stopped any further rhtlncss, ! know of a dear little girl of about eame ag$ who deserves a good sound king, and I know this would be just t she needs to bring her to her senses and for all. But sho won't get It and knows ft, so she can be Just as ;hty as she wants to. panking used to be so universal that n tvos commonly u&ed in girls' boarding , Khoojs. In one I know of the punishment punish-ment was Inflicted onco a week. At that ;dme all the girls who had been naughty ;ind adjudged deserving of a spanking Tfire ordered to report in tho principal's l ,'offlce at a certain lime. They wore to p tar nothing but a simple knee length K gingham dress and shoes. Generally tho U, 1 II & n3as to be spatzihed o hour would sec about a dozen terrified girls of 7 to 14 years old in the room. Thc ' spanker would enter with hor paddle, made from a shingle, call the roll of the ' spankees ' majestically, and proceed to work. " The girls were spanked according to age, the oldest first, that their humiliation humilia-tion might be seen by all tho others. You can Imagine what tho girls felt who wore awaiting their spanking in seeing tho punishment indicted upon the others and knowing that they were- to receive It In their turn. As tho name was called the culprit rose and went to tho principal, who road the crime, and loaning the sinner sin-ner across her knee raised tho ono garment gar-ment and Inflicted the spanks on the bare hips of the offender. It was not scvore, but enough to prevent a repetition of the transgression, " NoWi I have written too much, but feel so strongly on this subject that I can't stop when once 1 get started. May I, In conclusion, In my namo and in the names of many others who feci as I do, bog that you will give us a talk on this most Important topic for if we are going to ' bring up a child In the way he should go,' spanking must not be omitted. " C. E. A." The writer gives no signature except Unit I liave printed, and I have not the least notion as to her Iden tlty. But 1 know she writes a good letter and that even those who do not fullj agree 'with her may perhaps aoknowledgo that she has some grounds for tho position she takes. I myself have never shared In tho popular pop-ular prejudlco against reasonable spanking. spank-ing. I come of a generation which be-Hovcd be-Hovcd in it decidedly, and I cannot recall re-call any Just punishment of this sort against which I ever rebelled mentally. It would never have occurred to me to revolt in any other manner. The arguments argu-ments of today aro that such punishment punish-ment brutalized a child or broke his spirit, but 1 can honestly state that I never saw any marks of this upon children chil-dren who were Judiciously trained by other methods in addition, to deserved spunking. Unjust punishment is bound to have unhappy results, no mattor in what form tho- chuatlsomcnt comes. Also t may say that the products of that day and of lator periods In families whore corporal punlshniont was followed when It seemed necessary wore preferable prefer-able to those of the present In tho way of tractable, obediont, and well behaved chlldron. Tho claim may hold good that tho children turn out as well in tho long run If they aro pormlttod to pursue their own Inclinations without regard to commands com-mands or Inhibitions as they do if thoy are obliged to obey from tho first, but tho long run is trying to thc sufferers from the unchecked naughtiness of tho youngsters who aro permitted to havo their way without rogard to tho Judgment Judg-ment of those older and wiser than themselves. So much for my own opinion on tho subject of tho advisability of spanking. I hold also that It should bo hedged about with certain rules. No parent should over spank a child In wrath. That should bo the first precept laid down. "But T would never raise my hand against a child, no matter how bad ho was, unless I was angry," protested one parent to whom I made this assortlon. Such a parent has no business over to attempt tho correction of a child or even of an animal. I am not sure that ho ought to havo children at all! Punishment Punish-ment should bo Inflicted with angor at the sin, not at tho sinner; It falls of Its effect if admlnistorcd In a passion. I grant that It is moro difficult for tho parent to give pain to his child whon unmoved by wrath, but it, is tho benefit of thc child wo ajc considering now, not tho state of mind of tho father or mother. Another condition r should mako In connection with spanking is that It should never be administered except by the parent or somo one In rare cases who stands In thc placo of the parent I do not go as far as my correspondent docs when she recommends or at least countenances punishment of this sort at school. It Is hard enough for thc parent to judge wisely as to thc necessity of such corrqctlon, and I would novcr dcle-gato dcle-gato It to any ono clso except In extreme and remarkable cases of Insubordination whon thc natural gunrdlans of thc chlldron chll-dron had given up any attempt to reform re-form their offspring. I have had the opportunity of noticing many cases of children brought up In families whore tho switch or the allppor hold a recognized place. In such homos thcro could be no doubt In my mind of thc sincere and deep affection subsisting between parents and children, Tho spankings which were ncceneary wore usually received much as a dose of bad tasting medicine would be taken It was not liked, but the need of giving It was recognized and the dose was accepted philosophically. Anything llko the fooling fool-ing that the paront took advantago of being tho stronger to get his own will with aomo ono younger and weaker than himself has novcr come my way, when, as I have said bofore, tho punishment was deserved and was bestowed In the spirit of a destre to correct wrongdoing, not to got even or to display revenge. . " But it is such a mean thing to whip a child Just because you havo the right to do it and some authority over him,"'' a woman said to me when wo were discussing dis-cussing thc question of spanking. Tho person who takes this view of punishment has never fathomed Its meaning. Tho question of superior strength has nothing to do with it It is because of larger experience and greater wisdom that the sonlor wishes to correct evil tendencies in the child and to teach the lesson we must nil learn sooner or later, that causes pro-dueo pro-dueo effects. This Is something a child does not grasp. Ills present enjoyment, tho Indulgenco of his Immediate desire, whether this bo to securo n forbidden pleasure or to yield to hla temper at being thwarted, or to refuse obedience to a Just command, are tho only consld- eratlons that move him. He has to bo taught that consequences m are immutable immut-able and until ho Is old enough to learn this from the logic of events the- parent must take tho placo of Provldenco In Inflicting penalties. Of course there arc other methods of punishment besides spanking, but la not thl elementary form that which ap- poala moat directly to the elementary mind of a child? The sharp touch of slight physical pain ho understands when, ho might not comprehend argument argu-ment or reasoning. Undoubtedly thoro are some children who do not require spanking and others upon wham It ha an unfortunate effect, but aro thoy not tho exceptions rather than tho rule7 This Ja a question upon i i i m which I would like the opinions of ! '1 thoso who havq had both observation ! and experience. , ! Another query I would llko to put, ! and 1 hope to receive candid and hon- : 'H est answers. How many adults who ' wero spanked Judiciously In their youth , MM thai la, switched or slippered or shin- ; glod when they deserved punishment i and received It from loving and Just paronts-feel that It did them .Injury by antagonizing or enraging them, or j H making them fool they had boon treat- 1 mW cd unfairly? 1 trust to get many letters jH upon this topic and to print them In thc Cornor for tho benefit of C. E. A. and others interested In the proper train- Ing of children in thc way they should mW . |