Grandad April 28th, 2010
I was sitting here yesterday, half dozing and the radio was on in the background.
Some biddy came on and started moaning about how Ireland still allows the smacking of children.
In the space of a couple of minutes the self righteous bitch managed to illustrate nearly all that’s wrong with Irish society. “We must stop promoting violence against children” she said. “We must bring ourselves in line with European legislation” she said. “We must stop teaching our children that violence is the answer” she said. “We must introduce legislation to protect our children” she said.
First of all, why should we bring ourselves in line with European legislation? As far as I am concerned, there is no such thing. There is English, French, Spanish and all the rest legislation, but there is no such thing as a democratically constructed European entity that can ram laws down our throats. If we like something that another country does, then we should be free to copy it, but the converse should be true too.
The bitch talked about violence a lot. She didn’t talk about smacking, she talked about violence. If you want to whip up a bit of public support, then do two things – use emotive terms and talk about protecting children. In my book, clattering a kid until a couple of bones are broken, or blood is drawn is violence. A smack on the back of the legs is not violence – it’s correction.
Up to a couple of decades ago, physical punishment was the norm. As a kid, I got clattered at home and I got belted around the place at school. It taught me that there are some things one should not do, as retribution could be swift. We respected adults as they were the arbiters of justice. I think I turned out reasonably well?
Then they banned corporal punishment.
What we have now is a couple of generations of kids who copped on pretty quickly that they could get away with just about anything. Respect for authority is dead as there is no fear of retribution.
As for the shite that smacking teaches that violence is the answer, I’m at a loss for words. If this were the case, my generation would be extremely violent, while the younger generations would be a placid lot. In fact, the reverse is true. In my day, we didn’t go around murdering and stabbing each other, and the rate of crime was one hell of a lot lower. Our K8 got a wallop or two as a kid, and I don’t think it did her much harm? I think she has grown into a reasonably well balanced sociopath?
And what is the alternative?
When I find a five year old about to drop an electric fire into the bath, am I supposed to sit him or her down and explain Ohm’s Law and the physics of electrical discharge? Bollox! If I find a kid playing Tic Tac Toe on my car with a bunch of keys, am I to sit him down and have a reasonably balanced discussion on the rights of property ownership? My arse! A good swift kick up the hole and they won’t do it again.
Our little Friend of the Nanny State wants to bring in yet more intrusive legislation to dictate how we bring up our children [and grandchildren]?
She can go fuck herself.
She should be shot.
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