Kiss Your Baby, Go to Jail
I can’t help but to think Americans seriously need to use their resources on more important things after reading this article.
Excerpt:
The father and his wife, Teresa, dropped off some photos for processing at a local Eckerd. The role included a shot of Charbel kissing his baby on the tummy. Next thing the parents know, they’re being charged for sexual assault, and their children are wards of the state. It took six months for an investigation to conclude that there was zero abuse in the household, and for custody of their two kids to be restored.
Relax, America…
And to add to this, I’d like to say that corporal punishment shouldn’t be a crime. It has its place in families, especially that of Asian origin. It’s silly to argue that kids who were punished with some spanking will grow up to be abusive and a burden to the society… I mean, crime rate in the United States is among the highest in all of developed countries, isn’t it? Taiwan, Japan and Korea, where corporal punishment has been consistently used as a discipline method, are incredibly safe countries. No “Columbine” there! Maybe gun control (or lack there of) is the problem?
via [BloggingBaby]
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August 9th, 2005 at 8:06 am
During Birgit’s au-pair training they told her to never have pictures developed of a naked child for fear that she might be arrested for child pornography.
Even pictures of the kid playing naked in the backyard pool.
There’s definitely some nutty fuckers out there and I understand the sensitivity, but come on!
August 9th, 2005 at 8:16 am
I disagree on the corporal punishment view. I don’t think teachers, for example, should beat kids as punishment.
I mostly don’t think it works, its behaviour modification based on punishment (fear) instead of empathy. The death penalty doesn’t really dissuage criminals from performing crimes.
You wouldn’t want your kids to think it was okay to hit another their friend if they did something they didn’t agree with and you can’t teach a kid that “hitting is bad” if you do it yourself.
Nonviolence is always the answer.
On the other hand, I don’t think a parent should be arrested for slapping their kid. That, like these parents being arrested, is a little extreme.
August 9th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
Hmm… let me clarify this a bit then… My definition of “corporal punishment” involves nothing more than a few good slaps on the tush and/or on the palm of the hands. Honestly thinking back, I really thought I deserved some of the slappings I got when I was in school. And I am thankful for them now that I am an adult, looking at all the misdeeds I did.
I don’t disagree that using fear is the answer for the long run, both developmentally and psychologically. But it does help set limits when “go to your room” is no longer enough. In any case, I don’t know of anyone in Taiwan punished this way grew up acting out as aggressors or violent individuals. So I do think this is a philosophical issue in childrearing and disciplines.
Speaking of “nonviolence”, remember our conversation a while back regarding Iraq? I believed that U.S. should’ve waited for completion of U.N. inspection, keeping everyone out of a war. But you said sometimes when diplomacy just wasn’t enough, someone’s gotta carry the sticks around here.
This is not to say Bryan will get a beating if he acts out. I do appreciate the values taught in nonviolent solutions. But there are times when a kid’s gotta know who’s in charge around here…
August 9th, 2005 at 2:41 pm
I think I am going to get some pics of Bryan printed through iPhoto. Let’s see if Apple (or whoever they subcontract the printing out to) calls the cops on me. Suckas.
August 20th, 2005 at 2:38 pm
“Honestly thinking back, I really thought I deserved some of the slappings I got when I was in school”
……….
Hah Hah! No doubt. I never got slapped because I was a perfect angel.
“Speaking of “nonviolence”, remember our conversation a while back regarding Iraq? I believed that U.S. should’ve waited for completion of U.N. inspection, keeping everyone out of a war. But you said sometimes when diplomacy just wasn’t enough, someone’s gotta carry the sticks around here”
……..
“Walk softly, but carry a big stick” -Theodore Roosevelt.
The trick is to never actually USE the stick. The U.S. and the U.N. were supposed to play good cop/bad cop with Iraq. The U.S. was supposed to play the “belligerant crazy-nut officer” who makes it easy for the good cop to win favor with the suspect.
No one believed that the U.S. would actually turn out to BE a crazy-nut nation and carry out the threat without U.N. sanction.
That was stupid, and I was stupid for getting caught up in the hype at the time. I needed to convince myself that there was justification for the war because, like most people, I trully wanted to believe that the administration knew what they were doing.
I wanted to trust them.
I was also reacting specifically to the views of my European counterparts. I often found myself playing the devils advocate so I could better define the scenario and initiate argument.
Like most Americans, I was still in an emotional frenzy after 911. That frenzy was what the politicians capitalized on to sell the war. They had terrorist alerts, doomsday scenarios, etc. They kept everyone in an agitated state because thats when people are most malleable. We were governed by our passions.
It took a lot of reflecting to realize that violence only begets more violence, but the war was initiated quicker. We were all robbed of the time it takes to have a serious, multi-faceted moral debate.
Anyway, it was stupid. I realize it now, of course when it’s convenient.
“Hmm… let me clarify this a bit then… My definition of “corporal punishment” involves nothing more than a few good slaps on the tush and/or on the palm of the hands”
……
If a couple of slaps works so good, why not try it on some adults? Next time someone gives you incorrect change you should give them a light but firm slap on the wrists, see how they react to that.
People don’t use these tactics against adults (except for wife-beaters and other miscreants) because, as a whole, we respect the maturity in others. If we want our children to act mature, shouldn’t we treat them with the maturity we afford adults?
I know what the reaction is… “But Brian, kids ARE immature… they’re greedy, sassy, and stubborn. Sometimes you have to speak their language”
Kids are going to be this was anyways. They don’t have all the developmental benifits we as adults have. Why stoop to their level when you can show them through empathy and patience a more enlightened way?
I say all this now, but someday my view might change (again) when Laua is a teenager and deserves some slapping around.
August 20th, 2005 at 2:39 pm
whew!