Community Chat

[millieshops]

I know there was a thread this morning about the paddling of a little boy in Goerogia - just didn't find it.  Sorry.

Anyway, I just sat and watched the story on the nightly news and I definitely had not known the mother was standing right there taking the video and she had given her permission prior!  That changes my thinking.

I still don't like it, but it does seem to make it a legal act according to Georgia law.  I'm not a Georgian so I don't get a vote, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to work on that law.

However, now that I know the mother was standing right there, I also have another thought and it's not so nice.  Some of the crying could have been exactly what that child does at home when he's about to be punished and it gets him off.  He wouldn't be the only child who escapes punishment that way -  and may help explain why he was thinking it was okay to run around and spit on someone, too.

If that's at all true, both the parents and the school need to find structures that work better.

[Mz iMac]

I went to Catholic school.  Back in da day, it was very common if you misbehaved the nuns would slap the palm of your hands w/either a ruler or a chalk board pointer.  Stung like the devil.  Nun would inform the parents.  The student would get a whupping when they got home.

I grew up where a neighborhood was a villiage type of thing.  If you misbehaved out in the streets, Miss Sally would whup your ass, inform your parents of your misdeeds, then you would get another whupping from a parent.

If this child mentioned in the story is "spitting" on people, you better believe he is doing so at home!

[nun ya]

I got paddled in school, more than once. I deserved it too.

[Goldengate8361]

No human being should ever, ever hit another human being----particularly an adult hitting a child - for any reason!!!!! That is assault. The teacher should be arrested. Clear and simple. I'm completely appalled that people are even debating this. Sad commentary on humanity.

[millieshops]

@Goldengate8361AS I said this morning and again tonight -  I'd like to see something else done.  Hoqever, I don't believe in arresting anyone for an action which does not break a law.    And in this case -  with the mother standing right there?  Why didn't she just take him home and discipline him herself? 

I agree with @Mz iMac - he's very, very likely a child who acts out at home, too.  That mother was crying from sadness and frustration, imo.  I feel for her as much as for her child.

[Brooklynny]

@Mz iMac, I, too, went to Catholic school (1960s), so I can relate completely to your comment.  I'm glad those days are over -- they would never get away with it now.  For those states that still allow corporal punishment, let's get real.  This is 2016.  Guess what happens when a child is hit.  He/she learns to hit.  A very, very bad lesson to teach in my opinion.  I don't care if the parent is complicit.  It's wrong.

[Goldengate8361]

@millieshops I appreciate what you are saying, but such a clearly wrong behavior should not be tolerated under any circumstances - regardless of whether it's legal in Georgia or not. Such laws are, in my opinion, equivalent to many racist laws that have existed through the years from states like the one I grew up in (Alabama). Assaulting a child is NEVER ok,.....for any reason. Period. Calling it "paddling" does not change the fact that is is assaulting a child. 

[Sister Golden Hair]

I do not believe in spanking no matter what the situation.

There are other ways to teach a child between right and wrong.

My parents didn't believe in spanking and I carried that view for our two sons.

And our sons have carried it on with their children.

[MyShadowLove]

I saw this story on the News tonight and my heart was breaking for that precious little boy!...It was obvious to me that he was dealing with a difficult home life and was acting out his helpless frustrations in a way that only a little child knows how and those who should have been his role models and protectors demonstrated the totally opposite!

[Lila Belle]

Archaic and barbaric. Jmo.