20th of October 2017
Dear Sir/Madam,
DON'T SPARE THE ROD
I am appalled at the
Scottish Government’s ill considered intention to ban the
reasonable chastisement of children by their parents.
In my school days,
corporal punishment was a way of distinguishing the sheep from the
goats. It was only the brightest kids who realised that if an adult
hit you, they had lost the argument and that you could continue what
you were doing that had attracted their ire but with more discretion
and care to avoid detection. The thicker bairns, on the other hand,
never made this connection and usually responded compliantly to a
good belting.
Since the tawse was
abolished in Scottish schools, we have seen generations of feral
children growing up into ill mannered and loutish thugs. The few
decent parents who attempt to do what schools used to do will now be
deprived of a viable means to control their lumpen offspring. And
intelligent kids will miss out on a valuable lesson about adult
psychology.
John Eoin Douglas
