At first I thought this was going to discuss the opiate of the masses.

I love that one of the categories is "total bullshit".

I hope the "woodshed" mentality will someday be left far in the past. Signed, A Mother Who Does Not Beat Her Nevertheless-Well-Behaved Children

Yay for religious indoctrination and child abuse!

I hope the person who wrote that pile of crap didn't carry the tradition of beating kids into the next generation.

I first saw this about a year ago.  I was visiting a community center somewhere in our region that has been hit very hard by meth and prescription drug abuse. Someone had tacked it up on a bulletin board as food for thought.  

I guess I was raised pretty much like it says in this commentary and while this makes sense in a conventional wisdom/old school sort of way, the truth is that I still ended up with a lot of problems in my teenage and young adult years (and heck, even now).  Some of the problems possibly even stemmed from having this sort of upbringing.  

But what I do like is that it is advocating parental and community involvement in the lives of children and in our communities.  And having adults call kids into account for their activities.  

As food for thought, the best minds in America have studied this issue and come up with a set of guidelines or  "Protective Factors"  that are most likely to prevent child abuse, produce well grounded adults, and break the vicious cycles of poverty, addiction, domestic violence, etc.  Here's a link to an organization that I really like that teaches about these principles:   "Love is not enough to keep your family strong" 

My grandfather was a member of the "children are meant to be seen and not heard" generation that lived through the dust bowl years and the Depression. Speaking out of turn didn't merit being drug by the ears *anywhere.* It meant being backhanded into the next room. Telling a lie meant being beaten with a belt until the backs of his legs bled.

As a young boy, he worked the fields from before sunup until it was time to go to school and then after school, it was back out to the fields again til after dark.

Judging from the strictness of my own dad, I'm guessing more than a little bit of that was passed down from father to son.

Did it accomplish its task? Probably to some degree but I still rebelled, just as he rebelled against his own dad. The lessons my dad taught me were done in the only fashion he knew how, which was in the same way his dad taught him ... and are really only apparent now that I have children of my own.

From the stories I got from him and from my folks, the piece does sound like a whitewashed version of what really went on "back then," but in reality it was a harsh, hard reality to grow up in. (He often told me that until he was 15, he never knew chickens had meat on them save what could be found on their feet.)
 
I am thankful this type of discipline isn't a part of today's societal norm.

I wouldn't expect any other view from this crowd. And you wonder why we have people smoking industrial-waste shavings in public and bragging about it on the cover of the DNT? The "me" generation runs their family, not the parents.

Beverly is right, so is 'Zra.  If mild forms of corporal punishment (such as a mild spank or tap on the rear-end) happened to work I might advocate them.  But corporal punishment really doesn't.  Most of the time when it is used a parent has actually lost control of the situation and often also him or herself.

OK, I understand the responses to Jim except Chris's. What the heck does feeling a kid should get a spanking or two and that they should go to church have to do with suddenly busting out the racism card? In my opinion Chris, that was just a low brow disgusting way to sneak in an unwarranted attack of the lowest kind. Unless Jim or any one else makes a racist comment, leave that distasteful insinuation off the table.

That's a great point, and I agree with it, but it sounds like you're trying to justify blatantly calling out Jim as a racist with no reason, as just a great way to make that point and you weren't directing it at him but the article. You don't need to apologize to me, but Jim like him or hate him,(I have no clue who he is other than his posts on here I want to point out), deserves one for being called out as a racist when there is no proof, and despite your intentions, that is what you did.

Wow. Thanks Jadiaz. No offense Chris. I've got broad shoulders. And yes, Z, I had children. They experienced old-school punishment several times, including a paddle to the hiney and a bar of Ivory in the mouth. 

Was it in a fit of "rage" as you armchair feel-goods put it? Nope. It was appropriate punishment. Do I think that if the garbage-smoking-brain-deads had parents that "drug" them to church or "drug" them to a military camp would have turned out different? You betcha. Doesn't work all of the time obviously. Never does. Some are beyond help. But, if you vacated Camp Washington School for the Wasted and asked them about their childhood, I'd be willing to bet that most of them had parents who worried more about their own needs than their kids. Just like the fuck-up on the cover of the DNT, and just like fuck-ups like Chris that feels he's a pillar of community and good behavior. 

I do miss the good old days. I miss two parent-homes with moms that stayed home and raised their kids while teaching them good morals. I miss one-income homes that still found a way to have a family cabin and a new car every five or ten years because they saved and didn't rely on everyone bailing them out of stupid financial decisions. 

I miss Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights. I miss rooting for a team instead of a jersey. I miss dial telephones. I miss doctors that would come to our home and midwives that helped deliver our children. I miss a society that didn't start a lawsuit because they tripped on their own shoelace. I miss being proud of our leaders. I miss the four Rs. I miss real music. I miss real, not reality, television. I miss only having four channels. I miss inexpensive sports for our youngsters. I miss big Christmas tree bulbs. I miss being able to say you're a Christian without people like Chris making it sound like its a sickness. I miss teachers that would whack your ass if you got out of line in class. I miss V-8s. I miss Walter Cronkite. I miss English. I miss Dean Martin. I miss Sammy Davis Jr. I miss air travel that was a treat and was fun. I miss boxing. I miss family vacations by station wagon. I miss the smell of a Best Western Motel and the relief from the summer heat in their outdoor pool. I miss kitchy tourist traps. I miss drive-in movie theaters. I miss straight-leg pants that would stay on your hip. I miss Pontiac. I miss not having to worry about your kid being abducted if they went on a bike ride longer than a block. I miss family values.

I am missing a lot Z. If you read my diatribe, you would have noticed that I didn't expect anything, just stating my opinion and what I miss. That cool with you? If not, you can polish my helmet.

This thread is dead so I'll just add: Lawrence is known for always having a great, far out Halloween show. He is, without a doubt, the hippest dude who never drank or did drugs.