M.I.A.

it came up twice yesterday so i thought i'd do some research and thought processing on it...

evidently the school that an acquaintance works at is considering brining back corporal punishment. i have some issue with this. i was talking with a girlfriend of mine several years ago and she made the case that if your child were about to walk out into traffic that you would need to do something to get there attention in order to demonstrate the seriousness of the situation. ok- so i thought, does tone alone not do that? additionally- does hitting promote learning lessons? i feel as though we have to seriously consider what we are promoting when we show that it is ok to hit- when you have a point to prove.

so to get to the point: i am anti-corporal punishment. i say this realizing- i have been mad enough in my life to hit... 2 wrongs don't make a right- BUT 3 rights do make a left. ok- so we are discussing corporal punishment and i'm making my case for not hitting and i finally parallel the idea of physical violence with children to that of women- it is (no longer) acceptable to hit one's wife (and i use wife in this context because even until the 70's women were seen as property and domestic issues with violence were often viewed legally as property issues- not crimes against persons).

ok- so i've thrown out this 'hippie-esk' notion of not hitting/spanking/beating/threatening-with-violence and of course the first thing that is mentioned is- "yes, but you don't have children of you own." one- i want to say, you don't know that and neither do i... but that's the sarcasm talkin' and that'll get me nowhere. two- yes, i understand that i am not currently in the process of raising children. i also understand that i have never been raped- but i can provide crisis-intervention to those that have with unparalleled dedication. i understand that men don't have a uterus and yet the disproportionate number of them in government and politics are able to make legislative decisions about healthcare that effects me as a women. i have to trust that just because i have not walked your same path that i can still understand what i find acceptable in general and what is acceptable for me. what is so wrong with NOT using physical force?

ultimately- HANDS ARE NOT FOR HITTING!!!

Texas hit 73,994 from 1999 to 2000. Does that seem right to you?

This entry was posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 at 12:05 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.