"Unhappy Hipsters" Blog

[jamespowers]

My seventh-grade social studies teacher was called an unflattering term for a certain tumescent body part by a mouthy kid. Said teacher put the kid's head thru the classroom wall -- smacked him right into the sheetrock and left a head-shaped hole -- and then threw him down the stairs to the principal's office. Said teacher was not only not disciplined, he was promoted to Vice Principal the next term. And nobody ever called him that -- to his face -- ever again.

Fear is a great motivating factor. lol

 

[Fletch]

More to the point, fear is the only motivating factor many people believe in. Not just the dumb or the young, but those in authority whose greatest fear is of reasoned and principled adults.

 

[Smithy]

Not only jail, but the school district would most likely be sued. Corporal punishment is a thing of the past. Kids, parents, society today are so different that even though the public in spirit likes the idea in truth they are against it.

I entirely agree, times have definitely changed. But this was in NZ in the 70s and 80s and in a school which was based on the old British system of schooling, ironically enough long after Britain herself had got rid of corporal punishment. NZ only banned corporal punishment in 1991.

It was a common attitude back then. My father and his father had grown up (in NZ and the UK) in such circumstances that canings were normal and my father's attitude was that "if you played up you deserved it" and at the time I accepted it.

Times have changed and I wouldn't want my children to go through the same thing. Although funnily enough I actually loved my days at school (but then maybe not the canings )

 

[Miss Sis]

Smithy, I thought they banned corporal punishment in 1989? Reason I thought that is that is the year I started High School and everyone was saying, 'Oh, now you'll never get caned!' or somesuch nonsense.

Not that I ever had reason to get the strap (saw it bought out *once* at my primary school for two boys to get it) nor the cane! I was a good girl. [angel]

 

[Fletch]

Let the punishment fit the crime, I always say. It probably did, actually, where and when teaching was not a profession for ex-enlisted military. In that tradition, all punishments are severe.

 

[Flicka]

I wasn't raised to do my best because I might get a trophy or not to lie, cheat or steal because I might get spanked. I was taught the difference between right and wrong and to do the right thing because it's right, not for rewards or fear of punishment.

It's magic what you can achieve with expectations and a few guilt trips.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Dear Hipster,

I want my flamin' glasses back, Sunshine.

Sincerely,
Eric

P.S.: What do you think of all this? Rubbish!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I wasn't raised to do my best because I might get a trophy or not to lie, cheat or steal because I might get spanked. I was taught the difference between right and wrong and to do the right thing because it's right, not for rewards or fear of punishment.

It's magic what you can achieve with expectations and a few guilt trips.

Well said. Virtue should be its own reward.

 

[vitanola]

Ironically enough, talking positively about corporal punishment might be acceptable here on the Lounge, but decrying it would be talking politics. Kind of like how it used to be ok to throw the first punch in school, but not the second!

Well, only one of our country's two principal world views is "political". The other is just common sense, or so some would have us believe.

 

[Fletch]

Sometimes common sense means thinking for yourself, and other times it means not thinking at all.

 

[jamespowers]

I wasn't raised to do my best because I might get a trophy or not to lie, cheat or steal because I might get spanked. I was taught the difference between right and wrong and to do the right thing because it's right, not for rewards or fear of punishment.

It's magic what you can achieve with expectations and a few guilt trips.

That never works for incorrigibles. Right and wrong is fine but if they have an inclination to ingore them then you are getting nowhere.

 

[Flicka]

That never works for incorrigibles. Right and wrong is fine but if they have an inclination to ingore them then you are getting nowhere.

Well, if someone is incorrigible, nothing will correct them, by definition, right? Children, however, can still be taught, and I was referring to them. However, if you actually meant that some children are somehow born 'incorrigible' then you and I will simply have to disagree.

 

[Fletch]

The idea that human nature is essentially corrupt is still pretty popular on this side of the Atlantic, Flicka.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Well, if someone is incorrigible, nothing will correct them, by definition, right? Children, however, can still be taught, and I was referring to them. However, if you actually meant that some children are somehow born 'incorrigible' then you and I will simply have to disagree.

I've known some "bad seeds" in my time who were completely messed up (drugs, scrapes with the law, etc.) yet all of their siblings were decent, productive, law-abiding citizens. These people had the same upbringing and parental influences as their siblings yet they still turned out bad.

 

[jamespowers]

I've known some "bad seeds" in my time who were completely messed up (drugs, scrapes with the law, etc.) yet all of their siblings were decent, productive, law-abiding citizens. These people had the same upbringing and parental influences as their siblings yet they still turned out bad.

And those are the incorrigables. They take a firm hand to keep under control.

 

[jamespowers]

Well, if someone is incorrigible, nothing will correct them, by definition, right? Children, however, can still be taught, and I was referring to them. However, if you actually meant that some children are somehow born 'incorrigible' then you and I will simply have to disagree.

It just takes plenty to correct them. You can't just talk them to death---it does not work. There are different types of children and each need different types of correction. What works for one doesn't work for the other. Reasoning with them is a waste of reason---they are five after all. They have little reason but they understand other things very easily.
What has worked for your children?

 

[jamespowers]

The idea that human nature is essentially corrupt is still pretty popular on this side of the Atlantic, Flicka.

Lord of the Flies

 

[Flicka]

I think you are trying to tell me that we must, indeed, disagree.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't think human nature is essentially corrupt. But human *culture* certainly is. The trick is to teach your kid to resist what most everyone else thinks is just the normal way to go. I don't remember what specifically worked for me, but growing up in a family that had little to nothing to do with the prevalent pop culture of the sixties and seventies certainly didn't hurt.

 

[jamespowers]

I don't remember what specifically worked for me, but growing up in a family that had little to nothing to do with the prevalent pop culture of the sixties and seventies certainly didn't hurt.

I am certain that worked.