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Warming to my theme
By Wolfie | October 25, 2007
I decided a few days ago that the Wolf’s Howl would have a theme but it would not be technology, or motorsport, or relationships, or books or any of the other things I’ve written about over the last few months. Instead, the theme would be ranting and I started off with a couple of minor ones about the BBC’s attitude to non-Windows users and Apple’s pricing policy.
Since then, I’ve been in a good mood and my posts have been quite upbeat and positive (not like me at all) but over the last few days there have been a couple of items in the news that have started the Rant-O-Meter (patent pending) rising towards the red. This first one is the more emotive one, I think.
Yesterday the UK Government announced that they have decided not to introduce a total ban on smacking children, saying that the current law (which pretty much outlaws it anyway) is sufficient and is working. Today, England’s children’s commissioner - whatever that might be - has said that this is “missed opportunity”, even though the current law is supported by a majority of parents.
I want to say at this point that, while I am not in favour of a total ban on smacking as a form of discipline, I am also not advocating smacking as an excuse for abuse of children. Smacking should only ever be a last resort punishment, and even then should be used only sparingly; I grew up in this sort of environment, where if it got to the point that I was smacked it was because I had repeatedly disobeyed a request - wilful, sustained, disobedience that I’d already been warned about. I was never beaten, I was never hit with anything other than an open hand (no belts, slippers, or fists) and it was always on the back of the legs or my backside. It is a lesson easily learned - you behave so that it doesn’t happen again.
Having said that, just because physical punishment is available as a discipline tool is no excuse for sloppy parenting. Take a look round any town centre on a Saturday afternoon and you’ll see the results of too many years of sloppy parenting. All those yobbo kids that you complain about - they’ve never had any discipline. And this brings me to the crux of my argument and why I am pleased this ban has not come in completely.
We took away the rights of schools years ago to properly discipline children, to the point where we’ve had teachers murdered in the playgrounds, because the Government decided that the cane, or the slipper, or even just raising your voice to a child constituted abuse. Parents don’t discipline their children at home because they say it’s the job of the schools; the schools say - rightly - that they no longer have the power to do so. So we breed generations of undisciplined thugs.
There are parents out there, of course, who do educate their children in the proper way to behave but even these children will need to be disciplined at some point. Sending little Johnny to his room doesn’t work anymore; he’s got games consoles, PC’s, music systems, the Internet to keep him busy. You can’t send him to bed without any tea, because that’s also classed as abuse. Parents need a last resort punishment that will work and at some point the Government needs to step back from it’s continual interfering in people’s everyday lives.
I understand the argument against smacking. Groups like the NSPCC want to stamp out child abuse and they see smacking as a tool for that abuse. I agree that it can be, but this is where the current law is designed to step in. And I do think that the sort of abuse that we should be most worried about is not remotely connected to the parental-discipline use of smacking.
The other news item that got the Rant-O-Meter going was this one, about Iggy Pop. He, and the BBC, were reprimanded this week for an interview he gave during the Glastonbury Festival when he used a derogatory word for Pakistani’s. Two people complained to the BBC, who issued an on-air apology the day after the interview was shown. Isn’t too much being made of this sort of thing? Iggy, bless him, doesn’t really live in the here and now and probably didn’t realise what he said was in anyway derogatory. Probably not many people saw the original broadcast; lots more people have probably seen the story on the BBC website, where they repeat the word for all to see. Can’t we just accept that some people talk in certain ways? Let them get on with it and if you don’t like it, don’t listen. (I’m fairly sure that this story, on a similar subject, is a piss-take - The Onion is not renowned for real news. But, it’s not so implausible and nicely encapsulates the double-standards that seem to be the norm these days. Be warned - NSFW)
If you followed the link to the BBC story about Iggy, you’ll have seen a bit at the bottom where another program was reprimanded for showing a machete scene too close to the watershed. I’m sorry, but it’s a watershed; once you’re past that point the rules change. Are we now suggesting that we need a watershed for the watershed? “Well, you can have the swearing after 9pm, the sex at 9.30pm but keep the violence until 10pm, won’t you?”. Bollocks; it’s either a watershed or it’s not - if it’s too early, make it later I have no problem with that, but once that time comes expect programs to have mature content that may not be suitable for minors.
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All opinions in this blog are either my own or else they’re made up just to get a rise out of you and make you angry. Either way, they’re probably not very well thought out or expressed so do yourself a favour and don’t take the world so seriously.
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Categories: Rant-O-Meter |
Tags: Discipline, Iggy, Nanny State, Smacking, Watershed
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