Politics of parenting

It's important enough for enough parents to choose it and to be hated for it by those they love most than to not discipline in this manner.
No.

I do not support bans on corporal punishment, because some parents are such bad parents that the only way they can communicate is through violence, and that's honestly better than no communication at all. But it means you are a failure as a parent. It's like a driver who regularly crashes into things and relies on his airbags to save him. Should be ban airbags? No; a living horrible driver is better than a dead horrible driver. But hopefully someone will take his car away before he hurts someone else badly. Better yet, perhaps someone will teach him how to drive without having to hit things.
It's not something we typically enjoy, but then sometimes we do. Why?
Because sadists enjoy inflicting pain. And if that is done to someone in a consensual manner, then no problem. If it's done to a helpless child, then that person is a violent thug who has no significant parenting skills. Such children deserve better parents (and our pity.)
Runaways are nothing new in this world, nor are abused spouses.
Yep. And beating a child (or whatever euphemism you want to use) causes both.
 
What does the criminal assault with a weapon against minors have to do with politics? (he asked rhetorically)

Coin toss:

Heads: ¿Really?

Tails: As long as we all recognize this thread only carries what credibility we give it.​

To the obverse, no the politics of violence as child discipline are not new to me; this was an ongoing dispute when I was younger, and in the time I've been a parent, there has even been an argument in favor of acid attack as child discipline. In the U.S., such parents call it, "hot saucing".

To the reverse, our neighbor's performance is at the edge of what our community is willing to pretend isn't a troll job. It's kind of been this way for a while, around here.

If we take him seriously in a parenting context, we understand something about the mentality of such politics. If we take him in the context akin to run of the mill antisocial histrionics, we understand something about his craving for attention. It's possible to take him seriously, but it doesn't really have anything to do with actual parenting, and at that scale, pretty much anything is politics.

This is real-world dangerous. I wash my hands of it.

That is the challenge, isn't it? If I take our neighbor seriously, this bit he's doing is kind of dangerous. But it is also really low-effort nonsense. Everyone else is putting more into it than he is, and that's kind of the point. In any case, this thread only carries what credibility we give it.
 
ThazzarBaal:

You are demonstrating that violence begets violence. You have said that you were beaten as a child, and now here you are believing that beating your own kids is a good thing. You have absorbed the message that beating up on people who are smaller and weaker than you are is an acceptable thing to do - so much so that you actually think it's desirable.

You yourself are a case in point. Apparently, you think that being physically violent towards your own children is good for them. It isn't. It might make you feel good about yourself (which I would say is fairly screwed up, in itself), but it certainly won't make them feel good about you. Think about how you feel now about the parent or parents who beat you when you were a kid. Is that how you want your kids to feel about you when they are adults?

Yes. Abused people are far more likely to end up as abusers themselves. The worst abusers of all tend to be those who have suffered the most abuse from others. Childhood experiences are formative, although not completely determinative (thank goodness).

Being beaten up is unlikely to teach moderation.

"Discipline" is a poor euphemism for trying to excuse abuse.

You're not opposed to beating a child with a home-made weapon. In fact, you're in favour of it.

Labelling a child as a "disobedient type" is essentiallising what may be a fleeting characteristic or behaviour. If you constantly tell a child they are bad, worthless, useless, you can be sure they will internalise that. Perhaps, later, they will recognise you as the abuser you are, but they will carry emotional baggage regardless.

It is appropriate for parents to teach children that their behaviours have consequences. That does not mean you need to abuse them, physically or emotionally.

We don't put children in adult jails. Most of us understand that children are not adults. We understand that children are developing a moral understanding of the world, and that they will make mistakes while they learn. To treat a disobedient child like you would treat an adult criminal is barbaric. Note: even in adult prisons, corporal punishment is outlawed, at least in the more enlightened nations of the world. Almost everybody agrees that torture is unacceptable.

You are assuming that abuse will lead to the outcomes you desire. But then, at the same time, you admit that you know it won't. It seems like you're quite mixed up when it comes to this.

Wouldn't it be better to break the cycle of violence you were brought up with, rather than perpetuating it on your own, helpless children?

You need to work out why you want to beat your children. If it's really about you - that you enjoy exerting power over those who are smaller and physically weaker than you - then you have a problem. You would probably benefit from talking to a professional psychologist or psychiatrist to try to get to the roots of why you enjoy hurting other people, so you can stop yourself from doing it. What you are doing is wrong and harmful. First and foremost, I am concerned for your victims, of course, but staying the way you are is also damaging to you, and will have long-lasting negative consequences for your future relationships if you continue this way. No doubt, you have already experienced some negative consequences from these habitual behaviours of yours.

All you're telling us, it seems, is that you think it's fine to try to shape the world to make it in accordance with your own desires, through violence. Fortunately, there are laws that help to keep society at large relatively safe from you. It's shocking that you choose to prey on the most vulnerable, possibly as some sort of twisted compensation for not getting to have your way with violence in a more general sense.

If they are being regularly beaten by you, they will be far better off without your physical presence.

You've lost me. Are you now saying that you think it's okay to abuse your spouse, as well?

Are you telling us that you'd rather have your children and spouse ran away from you in fear than you losing the joy your get from exerting your power over them through physical abuse and/or the threat of that? You sound like a deeply damaged individual.

Long string of mischaracterized nonsense. I was spanked as a kid a few times. Mostly on birthdays - one lick per year plus one to grow on. Those days were great. I wasn't a disobedient kid, but when I did what I was told not to, I was spanked ... Not abused. It wasn't even remotely aggressive enough to be labeled abuse of any kind.

Domestic violence is certainly not acceptable, naturally but ... As adults without understanding that some behaviors are unacceptable it's time to leave the situation. Parents typically wouldn't rove children from their care, nor kick them out for not cooperating with house rules. Clean your room, don't eat in thei ing room, and stay out of the tomato garden ... Simple enough requests. Repeated non compliance warrants consequence, if not a single non compliance.

I will continue to support this type of discipline. The non abusive type that kids can typically understand. If they don't understand the discipline, there may be a greater issue to work out. It's not about spanking, but abuse. Spanking is not abused.
 
Jesus. You went from pretnding you were 'disciplining' your child - to suffering by the hands of violent people, and when it is OK to use force.

You really can't make a distinction, can you?


This is real-world dangerous. I wash my hands of it.

:unsub: :ignore:
Jesus. You went from pretnding you were 'disciplining' your child - to suffering by the hands of violent people, and when it is OK to use force.

You really can't make a distinction, can you?


This is real-world dangerous. I wash my hands of it.

:unsub: :ignore:

I'll follow suit and back away from the conversation. Abuse is different than than parental discipline. I was never beaten nor abused. I was spanked and learned not to disobey house rules. Other times I was rebellious about them, not of which were unreasonable, so when I was disciplined, I understood why and that there was a good reason for it.

Birthdays were great, but you know how tradition can sometimes be viewed. Reminders are sometimes necessary and many people in our world are far less concerned about our well being than most parents would be.
 
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