Who's Running The Show? The Kids Or A Higher Voice?
Judy Ramsook
January 22, 2007
I was not a perfect child. When I did something that went beyond the call of the usual scolding, I got a spanking. If I was told time and time again not to touch a treasured artifact or family heirloom and proceeded to toy with it anyway, again I got spanked.
It was an age not too long ago that seemed more free, and since there was no such thing as all this access to information such as what we have today via the internet and various research groups, most people did as they pleased without thinking how their actions would affect those around them.
If they wanted to light up a cigarette, they did so, whether there were kids around or not. If some kids were so mischievious that the usual verbal scolding meant little or nothing to them, they were spanked.
Fast forward to this, the early part of the twenty first century where a lawmaker in New Jersey is considering employing a law that would make it illegal for adults to smoke in their own cars if there are children present in the vehicles.
Similarly, in California, a lawmaker is also considering another law. One that would make it unlawful for a parent/guardian to spank his/her child, especially if said child is three years old or younger.
And as one ponders these two propositions, does it seem more and more apparent that from now on, will the kids of today and the future have an indirect impact on the way we live, and cultivate habits or not?
Given all the ill effects of smoking tobacco as we know them today, granted, some people should cut down a bit. Those who don’t or won’t will probably only do so if some law is passed and enforced. And although some habits are harder to break than others, one might also entertain the notion that this is just one more way for a sector of the government or ‘Big Brother’ to gain more control over its adult citizens.
As for the anti spanking proposition? From what I have surmised, most parents already do not spank their kids, so if this law is passed, it will affect new and future parents/guardians.
Let’s just hope that if this law is passed, those kids who are not to be spanked in the first three years of their lives are the ones who will behave and listen when they are told not to do or touch something they should not. If not, we adults just might someday be at the mercy of those kids who may already know all the power and control they have on society.
It was an age not too long ago that seemed more free, and since there was no such thing as all this access to information such as what we have today via the internet and various research groups, most people did as they pleased without thinking how their actions would affect those around them.
If they wanted to light up a cigarette, they did so, whether there were kids around or not. If some kids were so mischievious that the usual verbal scolding meant little or nothing to them, they were spanked.
Fast forward to this, the early part of the twenty first century where a lawmaker in New Jersey is considering employing a law that would make it illegal for adults to smoke in their own cars if there are children present in the vehicles.
Similarly, in California, a lawmaker is also considering another law. One that would make it unlawful for a parent/guardian to spank his/her child, especially if said child is three years old or younger.
And as one ponders these two propositions, does it seem more and more apparent that from now on, will the kids of today and the future have an indirect impact on the way we live, and cultivate habits or not?
Given all the ill effects of smoking tobacco as we know them today, granted, some people should cut down a bit. Those who don’t or won’t will probably only do so if some law is passed and enforced. And although some habits are harder to break than others, one might also entertain the notion that this is just one more way for a sector of the government or ‘Big Brother’ to gain more control over its adult citizens.
As for the anti spanking proposition? From what I have surmised, most parents already do not spank their kids, so if this law is passed, it will affect new and future parents/guardians.
Let’s just hope that if this law is passed, those kids who are not to be spanked in the first three years of their lives are the ones who will behave and listen when they are told not to do or touch something they should not. If not, we adults just might someday be at the mercy of those kids who may already know all the power and control they have on society.
Print
Email
