Dangerous Memes and Posts

• If you were beaten with a belt by your father and turned out okay, "Like" this.
• If your teacher paddled kids and you still learned in the classroom, "Like" this.
• If you rode in the open back of a pick-up truck when you were a child and weren't killed, "Like" this.

Well, they don't read quite that way, but pretty darn close. They seem to say that a violent approach to child-rearing is how to raise good kids; that corporal punishment by school staff is nothing; that unsafe driving practices are just ways of having fun.

And yes, many people did survive those events un-scarred by them. Including me for at least some of them.

But we have learned something about life and violence in the past generation or so. We have also learned about the dangers on the highway, especially in a world today where traffic is far riskier and "busy" than when I was a kid.

I agree that it is impossible to prevent all injuries or predict what a spanking will do to a child's psyche.  But I also tend to believe it is better to err on the side of caution and find other ways of discipline. Will a spanking at the right time prevent some child from becoming a criminal? Perhaps. But the odds are also that it might just teach- and perpetuate- a violent approach to life.

I don't "Like" those memes and posts on Facebook. I think they are dangerous and promote unsafe behavior. It's bad enough that young people, especially teenagers, are already prone to dangerous things. Let's not add to their dangers.