Reconstitute Respect for Authority or Educational Improvement Is a Pipedream

By

Sherman N. Miller

2/1/2007

In chatting with some grandparents, I was left wondering whether America is abdicating its parental role in bringing up the next generation. I heard stories of parents afraid to discipline children’s bad behavior for they may find themselves hauled off to jail for child abuse. Most disturbing was how today children know the legal system has put a garrote on their parents’ desire to use corporal punishment.

A white senior citizen grandmother shared that her daughter is afraid of her children. She recalled that her parents took no nonsense from children. However, she appeared to be distraught that her daughter was in a hopeless situation where she felt unable to discipline her own children.

A black grandfather stunned me by saying his five year old grandson was headed for a life of crime because this child needs aggressive discipline and his mother feels incapable of providing the necessary level of correction. This grandfather suggested that his grandson is out of control. On the other hand, this black grandfather recalled how his own mother had to spank his butt a couple of times a day because his actions had been tantamount to what today’s Hip Hop generation labels "trifling."

This African American grandfather appeared withdrawn as he shared that he has a nephew on death row for two murder convictions. He said this murderous child grew up in a good suburban home with both parents. This child he thought, needed a few good whippings when he was growing up, but his father did not have the backbone to do what was needed.

Although many people may not believe in the Holy Bible, it does offer a historical look at some family practices that have been successful for thousands of years. "Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge. Withhold not chastisement from a boy; if you beat him with the rod, he will not die. Beat him with the rod, and you will save him from the nether world" (Proverbs 12—14).

Many senior citizens of all colors will readily share that the spirit embodied in Proverbs 12—14 was the mindset of their parents and grandparents used in raising children. As I recall in the African American communities of my childhood, any adult could chastise your bad behavior and your parents would support their actions. However, today some high profile child-abuse cases may be destroying generations of children because their parents are afraid to pass on the moral values of their families that have worked for thousands of years.

As we watch the evening news reports of thugs perpetrating murders daily, we might ask ourselves if part of the solution to this murderous scourge may be giving a few good spankings to tomorrow’s would-be thugs while they are still today’s children. I am reminded of a story where a young African American thug years back died from a shoot-out with the police. This black thug’s horrific death punished his parents for many years because he had a son and the baby’s mother shunned the grandparent. The grandchild’s mother purportedly told his father’s parents something to the effect that "If you couldn’t raise your son any better than you did, you surely wouldn’t get to kill my son."

Is it time for the disciplinary pendulum to shift directions so parents may use their own discretion in disciplining their children without quaking in their boots over the potential of getting jail time for doing what is needed? One needs only to visit some public schools to recognize that many of today’s teachers appear powerless to really discipline children, so some students feel free to do as they please with the belief that the legal system is on the student’s side. Thus, pondering the quote above, "Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge" without reconstituting respect for authority in the minds of today’s youth may mean that improving America’s public educational system is a pipedream.