tell me what you think.

[duroc5088]

This was sent to me by a rodeo buddy of mine in an e-mail. I think that it holds a lot of truth......for me anyways.

Drug problem
>>>
>>>
>>> The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a
>>>methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining
>>>county and he asked me a rhetorical question, ''Why didn't we have a drug
>>>problem when you and I were growing up?''
>>>
>>> I replied: I had a drug problem when I was young:
>>>
>>> I was drug to church on Sunday morning.
>>>
>>> I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.
>>>
>>> I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the
>>>weather.
>>>
>>> I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.
>>>
>>> I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a
>>>lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke
>>>ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best
>>>effort in everything that was asked of me.
>>>
>>> I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap
>>>if I uttered a profane four-letter word.
>>>
>>> I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds and
>>>cockleburs out of dad's fields.
>>>
>>> I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out
>>>some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or
>>>chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single
>>>dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the
>>>woodshed.
>>>
>>> Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in
>>>everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack,
>>>or heroin; and, if today's children had this kind of drug problem,
>>>America would be a better place.

 

[tigerpaw78]

Everything you say in that is what is so true when I was growing up. And, if today's children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place for sure.

 

[gmoney]

This pretty much explains how it was for me growing up. There is a fine line between discipline and abuse, but so many today stay so far back from that line, we have a generation of unbehaved messes out there.

 

[mark1111]

Oh, but we can't do that anymore. DSS (Dept of Social Services) will grab your child quicker than you can blink. They also go to schools around here and ask 2nd graders if mommy or daddy ever hit them. If there is a report made on you, even anonymous, DSS will be your good friend for a long time.

 

[SilverRRCloud]

Guys, you are all soooo rite.

Not only would America (or any other country for that matter) be a much better place, but if I were 21 once again and had 30 inches round my waist, I'd be having even more fun messin' around with other guys, than I do these days.

I did not do anything wrong, criminal or even immoral to start pushing the 40s. And no country did anything wrong, so it suddenly stopped being an idyllic and pastoral community with kids being spanked in woodsheds for whatever transgressions they may have or have not committed, but became a global power with its complex urban problems...

Actutally, nope. Things would not have been better. They would have been only different. One abuse would have been replaced by other forms of abuse. So much for that.

And, no matter, how hard you all try, you can't go back there anyway. So, you may all just agree to look forward and take the challenges at hand. The world in which problems had been solved by spanking a guy in woodshed or washing his mouth with soap in kitchen sink is dead and will never be back again.

If you are still craving for that little bit of 'loving abuse', that can be easily arranged.

If not, go and try to see what you can do to help guys in your community with what's ahead of them.


SC

 

[duroc5088]

Guys, you are all soooo rite.

Not only would America (or any other country for that matter) be a much better place, but if I were 21 once again and had 30 inches round my waist, I'd be having even more fun messin' around with other guys, than I do these days.

I did not do anything wrong, criminal or even immoral to start pushing the 40s. And no country did anything wrong, so it suddenly stopped being an idyllic and pastoral community with kids being spanked in woodsheds for whatever transgressions they may have or have not committed, but became a global power with its complex urban problems...

Actutally, nope. Things would not have been better. They would have been only different. One abuse would have been replaced by other forms of abuse. So much for that.

And, no matter, how hard you all try, you can't go back there anyway. So, you may all just agree to look forward and take the challenges at hand. The world in which problems had been solved by spanking a guy in woodshed or washing his mouth with soap in kitchen sink is dead and will never be back again.

If you are still craving for that little bit of 'loving abuse', that can be easily arranged.

If not, go and try to see what you can do to help guys in your community with what's ahead of them.


SC

 

[Swellegant]

I got all that and then some, and I'm still an alcoholic. The only reason I'm not a drug addict, too, is because they were too expensive and I didn't know any dealers.

So there're more kinds of drugs now than there were thirty or forty years ago. That's not because people aren't getting spanked, it's because people have invented new drugs. Completely unrelated phenomena. So maybe you didn't have meth labs in 1970... but I bet there were plenty of moonshine stills so you could get more fucked-up than plain old store-bought liquor could get you.

I keep hearing people complain that children aren't disciplined anymore because they aren't spanked anymore. And that's just poppycock. Children can be disciplined without being spanked, I've seen it happen all around me. I know absolute mountains of children who are utter angels and have never been struck, just as I know mountains of children who are beaten regularly and learn only to stay out of arm's reach when they misbehave.

It doesn't take spankings to raise a child, it just takes time and effort and concentration and devotion, the same things that made spanking a discipline rather than an abuse "back in the good ol' days."

I keep telling y'all, it wasn't the spankings that disciplined you, it was loving devoted parents who could have disciplined you just as well without dragging you out to the woodshed when you misbehaved.

What's lacking these days is the love, the devotion, and most importantly the concentration that was more common when life ran slower and there were fewer distractions.

Of course I'm a little sensitive about this. I was beaten quite often in childhood by my parents and stepparents, all of whom responded with violence to anything that made them angry, and it didn't do me a lick of good. What did do me good was having someone explain to me the difference between right and wrong and how to tell them apart without the framework of pain infliction.

That's how my Grandmother taught me right from wrong... and she never once hit me. She threatened to a couple of times, but just understanding that I was hurting her feelings by misbehaving was enough to get me to toe the line.

 

[justsimon]

Robert~Marlene, I couldn't have said it any better.

I had loving, caring parents who didn't believe in corporal punishment or yelling and my brother and I turned out just fine. We're not addicts or alcoholics and we're responsible, caring, men. Respect, on both sides, is all it takes in any situation.

 

[justsimon]

^^^ Yeah, I guess we are all dwelling a bit on the "woodshed." I do think that too many kids are not taught respect. It's obvious by the people who come into my bookstore.

 

[Swellegant]

Funny how the corporal punishment has been focused in on - even though it isn't specifically mentioned (call me naive but I took the woodshed as the equivalent of being sent to your room).

You are naive, BenBrowdersArse. Being taken to the woodshed is a euphemism for receiving a beating, usually from your father, and usually with an implement of some kind, either a belt or a switch.

And in my family, being put in the dog-house was not a euphemism at all, it was a literal reality. Being sent to your room is being sent to your room... which I never considered a punishment, since I liked it better there than anywhere else in the house.

Nevertheless, you're right, I did jump straight to the corporal punishment and ignore the rest, it pushed my buttons.

I still think that what's missing isn't the use of force and rigidity, but the use of concentration and devotion. We've become so self-centered in the Western World, so indoctrinated into the idea that what we want and feel is the most important thing in the universe, that it's very difficult for us to connect to each-other. Self-centered parents have self-centered children, and the concept of discipline relies solely on being family-centered rather than self-centered, so the concept of discipline is in decline these days.

But I still don't know what any of it has to do with midwestern meth labs.

 

[duroc5088]

wow,I am impressed at how much discusion this little ditty brought up. ANd the depth of your posts is way better than I expected.

Personally I think I agree with all of you on certain parts of your comments.

I DO believe in corporal punishiment. Sometimes I think it is the only way to get your kids to do what is best for them. Never taken too far, it can be a very effective way of making your kids listen.

RESPECT!!! This is in large part what is lacking in this world. I'm not just talking about in young kids, I mean in all ages. What happened to the time when you could drive down the road and get a friendly wave from a passing driver? what happened to holding a door open or saying excuse me or I'm sorry?

Personally I think that teaching kids this kind of simple common courtosy at a young age will not only show though in the way they treat others but it will show through to how they live their lifes.

Dirk

 

[operafan]

RESPECT!!! This is in large part what is lacking in this world. I'm not just talking about in young kids, I mean in all ages. What happened to the time when you could drive down the road and get a friendly wave from a passing driver? what happened to holding a door open or saying excuse me or I'm sorry?

Yeah, I'm wishy-washy on the corporal punishment part. I can only remember two times in my youth that happened and the hard looks were always enough to keep me in line.

But I do believe that kids are not taught to be respectful of each other let alone of their teachers or other adults. I can't help but feel that its just too much effort for some parents to be that involved.

 

[Austin40acres]

I think the key difference is dealing with the consequences.

Yes, I misbehaved when younger.
Yes, I'm an alcoholic.
Yes, I'm opposed to child abuse.

The difference today is that people are taught that they don't have to deal with the consequences of their decisions and actions.

Want to commit a crime to get money to get crack? It's ok, we'll sentence you to probation and a rehab program instead of prison.

Want to sexually harrass a White House Intern and lie about it under oath before a Grand Jury? It's just about sex, you were protecting your wife and daughter, so it's no big deal.

(And, to be politically centered

Want to send a 16 year old Congressional male intern sexually explicit instant messages? Just resign your position and people will leave you alone.

Want to kill someone? OK, we WILL put you in an air-conditioned prison with a workout room and media center because the ACLU will complain if we make you wear pink and put you to work cleaning up roadways.

Yeah, I got hit on the bottom from time to time but it wasn't abuse. It was the consequence of my behavior and no one other than me had to deal with the consequence.

Just my 2 cents.

A4A