Finding humor in life,
tech, news & celebrity

Parenting skills: Instant punishment or time out?

Ed the Editor's personal blog corner

Perfect parents don't exist. They say the only qualifications needed to be a parent is a set of functioning genitals. Less harsh critics of dubious parenting say that there is no book, no training that can prepare adults for raising children, so we have to accept that people do the best they can. OK, so that is alright, then!

When I was a kid I fell out of an apple tree and my dad clipped me round the ear. I claim it was unfair, others say he did it out of relief that I was still alive, and others even harder say I deserved to be hit to reinforce the fact I had broken the rules about climbing trees.

As an uncle, not a parent, I know my response to a child in a similar circumstance would be not to add insult to injury with a thump. However I would remind them that us humans were born without feathers and wings and most of us aren't called Tarzan. Whether that would lighten the drama or screw the kid up forever, I don't know, but at least it would be more humane than a clip round the head.

The other approach is time out, where, presumably, my father would have locked the door and told me to stand outside till I had thought about the errors of my ways. I recall that Emo guy recounting Christmas Day. "We would wake up full of anticipation, and on seeing the snow on the ground, we would rush to the front door and holla through the letterbox, "Mom, let us in."

Compared to the Spartans, even the harshest modern-day parent would be considered a pussy. Those heroic mothers left their babes out on the hillside, an extreme form of time out. "Look, son, you haven't done anything wrong, but take time out to consider the mistakes you might make later on in life."

And the Romans had a great way of making their grown-up soldiers consider the errors of their ways. After a loss, the centurion would line up the survivors, reinforce their shame with a tirade of frightening proportions before stabbing to death every tenth man. Hence the term decimate.

Thinking of some of the insolent kids I have encountered over the years, perhaps we could bring back the Roman ways as part of a new parent-child education program?

If you ever miss a day without Ed, all the blogspots are here.

Enjoy the content.