To the Editor,
John Fletcher, editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, recently spoke out against the age old practice of spanking disobedient children.
Fletcher wrote it is time for Canada to remove this anachronistic excuse for poor parenting from the statute book. He also said corporal punishment can lead to drug addiction, depression, etc.
He failed, though, to give a description between the difference of firm and loving discipline and outright child abuse. We should note today that depression, anxiety, and drug addiction are at all-time highs in a culture more frowning upon a spank.
I believe that to outlaw reasonable corporal punishment is far over-reaching and a sign that those in influential positions are out of touch with the voice of nature. They have become more concerned about following the popular consensus and dogma of their colleagues just like a pack animal.
If you are whipping or spanking your child daily or often, then something is wrong.
Every child is different and some children rarely need to be spanked if at all. Some need more discipline to tame and give direction for their strong passion with a more heavy hand.
Primal emotions can eclipse the heart and the mind. Sometimes a simple spank is the only thing one can do to tame the primal emotions of a child so he or she can discover the higher emotions of themselves and integrate them harmoniously with the lower emotions, creating a well-balanced person.
If one only gives a disobedient young child a lecture full of guilt instead of firm, friendly advice with the possibility of a spank as last resort, they can do much harm. They misguidedly address the child’s higher person which is not yet fully cognizant when they should be addressing the child’s primal lower nature in a language that it is understood.
This sort of passive aggressive discipline is too personal and fails to communicate to the primal nature of a child which can lead to a life filled with phantom guilt and self-doubt.
Mostly it is in the tone. A spank followed by a loving hug is much better received than outright rebuke and a cold shoulder.
What in part ails society is not corporal punishment, but a dogma which ignores the common sense of nature and has no faith in that voice expressed in the unsuppressed caring actions of parents.