2nd Class Children
2nd Class Children
Lets Kick the Kids While They're Down
It was recently announced that a school district in Missouri was re-instating spanking as an acceptable (and legal) punishment for students.
I’d like to take this opportunity to point a few things out:
Police Departments across the nation are (rightfully) undergoing a revamp to their training to focus on conflict management, mediation, and non-confrontational dispute resolution, as much as firearm skills and non-lethal weapons.
We see qualified candidates removed from training pipelines as they do not meet diversity targets.
There are campaigns to create “safe spaces” for adults who can find LGBTQ+ tolerant and educated individuals.
The U.S. Surgeon General announced that the unprecedented (negative) impact the handling of COVID-19 has had on the mental health of America’s youth and families are now being seen and needs to be handled immediately.
Multiple studies have shown that physical punishment — including spanking, hitting, and other means of causing pain — can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury, and mental health problems for children.
Where is the Social Justice for Children?
Looking at the list above, some of these amendments to how business is conducted were overdue (Police Reform), while others are clearly examples of swinging the pendulum too far in the opposite direction (removing qualified candidates to hit quotas).
What’s clear is that everyone is looking to establish new lines and protections to allow an individual to be who they are, and to receive equal treatment and representation, while doing so in a safe space.
With racial, religious, sexual preference, age, and gender-focused social justice campaigns taking off and reaching the mainstream with regards to the national attention being given-
Why are the most vulnerable of all populations, the children, being left behind?
Worse yet, why are we seeing less justice given to children as is happening in Missouri?
Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities. Social workers aim to open the doors of access and opportunity for everyone, particularly those in greatest need.
Why do we allow the abuse to continue to those who are literally in the greatest need within this country?
Children are suffering en masse, and the best we can do for them is overlook their deteriorating mental health while at the same time disregarding the growing support for placing them in even more violent environments.
Corporal Punishment Doesn’t Work
“You cannot punish out these behaviors that you do not want” says Kazdin, who served as APA president in 2008. “There is no need for corporal punishment based on the research. We are not giving up an effective technique. We are saying this is a horrible thing that does not work.”.
We’re hitting children not because it works but rather because it’s the easiest method to get the compliance and behavior we want from a child.
We are inconsistent in our values as a society, and it’s the children, as it has been throughout the ages, who will suffer the most.
You cannot hit your wife without going to jail, yet she is an adult who could leave if she wants to.
Your boss cannot hit you, and you can’t strike your coworkers, yet either could quit if desired.
There are rules protecting animals, landmarks, and artifacts, but so long as you hit your child “within reason” (what does that mean?) and call it “Discipline,” then they’re fair game.
To put this bluntly, the logic within society is that we must fight for at-risk populations, yet developing children are fair game for abuse “discipline”…
Children Need Adults to do Better
Spanking does not work, is unnecessary, is outdated, and the results are detrimental to the development of children.
Short-term compliance at the expense of long-term health is such a short-sighted aim that it’s difficult to understand how anyone, especially educators, could agree that this is a good move for children.
Our children want to be us when they grow up.
Let’s give them a better adult to grow into, one who does not view children as being second-class citizens, allowed to be hit with a paddle if they get out of line. Let’s give today's children a chance to become strong adults with healthy attachments to themselves and society at large. It’s undeniable that blind obedience based on fear of perceived authority is what got us into the mess we’re in now, and it’s only going to get worse as we continue to “beat obedience” into the youth.
If we want to fix the mental health epidemic the youth are suffering from, we need to start looking at how we are treating these children within our society.
We need children connected to their mothers and fathers, knowing that nobody, for any reason, is allowed to hurt them - regardless of what they may have done in the classroom.
If we’re willing to reform the Police due to excessive violence and simultaneously authorize increased brutality upon children after seeing mental health in youth to deteriorate while safe spaces are built for young adults - we have failed as a society…
- Zac Small