The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Thank goodness the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favor of spanking. Most children, at times, will be so stubborn and self-centered that only the thought of being spanked will gain their cooperation and teach them to apply self-discipline instead of facing outside discipline. Most kids don't want to do their homework. It isn't fun. They don't want to take the time to pick up after themselves. Heck, parents don't either! We do it because we don't like the alternative of a messy, disorderly home. Kids don't want to do their chores. Very few people enjoy cleaning toilets, washing windows, doing dishes, the laundry, the floors. Adults do it because they don't like the alternative. As children, we only learn self-discipline because we don't want to face the discipline the adults in our lives mete out. As we grow older, we learn to do those things we don't want to do, because we want to achieve the end results Ð like doing our homework and studying gets us good grades and many doors of opportunity open when we graduate from Grade 12. Living in a tidy, clean house is more beneficial psychologically and physically than living in a dirty, messy house. Keeping a rein on our temper when we are with our friends, family, and driving is better than losing our temper and injuring relationships or ourselves (in the car). That's self-discipline. As parents, we teach our children to apply self-discipline by applying outside discipline and consequences to them until they realize it's easier and better to simply do what they've been asked before the discipline. In those rarer instances when your children have been disciplined and are still refusing to cooperate, spanking is the last resort. Never spank in anger. Tell them the next consequence is a spanking. As parents, we want our children to thrive as adults. The very best lesson we can teach them is self-discipline Ð the ability to follow through with something they don't like doing until they achieve the desired end result. With self-discipline our children will be able to maintain healthy eating habits, a personal exercise program, learn everything they want to learn, achieve every goal they want to achieve in their life.
