Spanking children is wrong. Hitting with a switch, a paddle, or your hand is wrong. To me, this isn't a subject for debate. We've come to the conclusion that the earth is not flat. It is also conclusive that striking anyone, regardless of size or age or misbehavior, is wrong. Hitting teaches the victim that that's how you solve problems. It's not.
The debate on political and sports shows has been about how far you should be allowed to go, or where to draw the line, when it comes to hitting a child. Who determines where to draw that line? There would be no need of determining where to draw the line if we just stopped all hitting.
Discipline is learning what is expected of an acceptable societal behavior before being given the autonomy to test that behavior with regards to different ages and stages of development in life. It's adults modeling appropriate behaviors. It's routine and practice. It's learned behavior. If a child is disciplined by observing good honest expected behavior, there will be a lot less need for punishment.
Hitting children cannot be accepted as a cultural or regional thing. Some people believe hitting children is okay because they were hit as children, and they "turned out okay." Well, they didn't turn out okay if they haven't broken that cycle of hitting.
This isn't just an NFL problem. It's a world-wide problem of ignorance.
Punishment is authoritarian and enforces compliance. A child might not repeat a misbehavior because of compliance to a punishment. But it doesn't teach self-control. Logical consequences help children develop internal understanding, and a desire to follow the rules. Logical consequences are respectful of the child’s dignity while punishment often calls upon an element of shame.
Firing or suspending an employee from their job might make the employer feel a sense of accomplishment, but really, it just sends a damaging message, and it solves nothing.
I sincerely believe that new parents shouldn't be allowed to leave the hospital with their new babies without taking with them a copy of something like, "The New Approach to Discipline: Logical Consequences" by Rudolf Dreikurs, or any other parenting book that teaches parents that children deserve as much respect from adults, as adults expect from children.
