Internet Experts

Before walking into this room to write this here little journal entry I decided to check social media one last time. The local news shared a study on how children that were spanked as kids were more aggressive and a few other things, none of them good. I then decided to read the comments section and had found a lot of people had done their own research and disagreed strongly with the study. Several knew every person walking the planet today and exactly how they were raised and a few others knew of every problem the world faces and the cause and solution to it.

It is amazing how all these terrible people crawl out of the woodwork for every news article posted on the internet. I wonder if they’re real or one of these Russian troll farms or something. So many people with the same awful opinions posting on every article all the time. It is a strange thing to witness.

As for the subject matter. I don’t agree with spankings. I know from my readings on dog behavior and my experience on the matter that punishment doesn’t change behavior. My parents believed in spanking when I was a younger child and I remember being spanked a couple times. No idea what for but I do remember the spankings. The main lesson from punishment is don’t get caught.

Think about your own experience with speeding and speed traps. If you drive a car you speed. It is how we drive. Social proof has us going with the flow of traffic and driving five to ten MPH above the posted speed limit. That is just how people do it, and a large number of them have gotten speeding tickets. What happens? Maybe they stop speeding for a week or two but sooner or later they go right back to the old behavior, I mean everyone else on the road is still going five to ten MPH above the speed limit, but now they are more mindful of speed traps and maybe pay more attention when Google Maps tells them one is coming up.

Punishment doesn’t equal discipline or respect or whatever else it is supposed to teach. When you raise your hand to a child you teach them that violence is a solution and a proper response. We can teach with our words and actions better than we can with a paddle.