Kid's Corporal Punishment - a Risk to Mental Health

[Paidiske]

So how and why have things changed and seemingly gone downhill in the last 30 years?

First we'd have to establish, by what objective measure have things actually gone downhill. Because some things are worse, and some are much better. But if we identify the things that are - and I stress, objectively - worse, then we can look at causative factors.

 

[timothyu]

Because some things are worse, and some are much better.

Lets stick to what stands out... self entitlement and selfishness, self being the opposite of the direction we were commanded to go, but got us removed from the Garden.

 

[Paidiske]

Lets stick to what stands out... self entitlement and selfishness, self being the opposite of the direction we were commanded to go, but got us removed from the Garden.

That's not necessarily what sticks out to me. For example, most forms of violent crime have decreased substantially over the last thirty years. Which suggests something is being done right.

 

[timothyu]

For example, most forms of violent crime have decreased substantially over the last thirty years.

Locally perhaps

 

[Occams Barber]

That's not necessarily what sticks out to me. For example, most forms of violent crime have decreased substantially over the last thirty years. Which suggests something is being done right.

There's a well-known quote, attributed to Socrates, which is worth repeating in threads like this.

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers"​

​

OB​

 

[keith99]

There's a well-known quote, attributed to Socrates, which is worth repeating in threads like this.

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers"​

​

OB​

I've seen one from Hitler which except for a line about beer gardens is close enough to dismiss any differences as just translation choices. (Neither Socrates nor Hitler said much in English).

 

[keith99]

Locally perhaps

If by locally you mean any English-speaking country.

 

[Whyayeman]

So how and why have things changed and seemingly gone downhill in the last 30 years?

The key word there is 'seemingly'. You are making a very big judgment based on , what? A personal impression.

But even if your impression could be backed up with some objective data correlating 'smacking' to a general overall decline in behaviour it would still be assault. The justification for assaulting infants is one in which the means justifies the ends. This is widely understood to be wrong.

 

[Occams Barber]

I've seen one from Hitler which except for a line about beer gardens is close enough to dismiss any differences as just translation choices. (Neither Socrates nor Hitler said much in English).

Hitlers best known quote about kids is:

"He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future," ​

There is a range of irritable kid quotes from Aristotle to Hesiod to Peter the Hermit.
The point is, I think, that every generation has its share of grumpy old men. complaining about the younger generation.

Either that or 'kids will be kids'.

OB

 

[timothyu]

If by locally you mean any English-speaking country.

No

 

[timothyu]

The key word there is 'seemingly'. You are making a very big judgment based on , what? A personal impression.

The advantage of years is seeing change and having the past as a reference.

 

[keith99]

The advantage of years is seeing change and having the past as a reference.

The advantage of claiming years on a site where age is absent is that no one can call you on it.

The good old days were pretty bad if one was the wrong color or for that matter wrong sex.

 

[timothyu]

The good old days were pretty bad if one was the wrong color or for that matter wrong sex.

Possibly so but we are not talking about that

 

[Desk trauma]

Locally perhaps

Nationally.

 

[Paidiske]

Possibly so but we are not talking about that

It's all part of the same discussion. You can't take one thing in isolation and say, "that's the story of social change in recent decades." You have to look at the whole picture; and in the whole picture, there are many positives.

 

[timothyu]

Nationally.

Each nation is local, not global and each see themselves based on their own traditions.

 

[timothyu]

You can't take one thing in isolation and say, "that's the story of social change in recent decades." You have to look at the whole picture; and in the whole picture, there are many positives.

Right but I was focused on kids behaviour when I made that statement.

 

[Desk trauma]

Each nation is local, not global and each see themselves based on their own traditions.

Those are US stats.

 

[Paidiske]

I haven't observed that kids' behaviour is noticeably worse now than it was thirty years ago. And when I google, I see that smoking and drinking rates in adolescents have dropped, bullying rates have dropped, youth crime rates have dropped over that time. So I'm not convinced that "things have gone downhill" even if we just look at kids' behaviour.

 

[Desk trauma]

I haven't observed that kids' behaviour is noticeably worse now than it was thirty years ago. And when I google, I see that smoking and drinking rates in adolescents have dropped, bullying rates have dropped, youth crime rates have dropped over that time. So I'm not convinced that "things have gone downhill" even if we just look at kids' behaviour.

Despairing over the next generation, saying saying things are going down hill is at least as old as the written word with each generation repeating it about the next. Somehow I don't think it has all been downhill these past 5,500ish years