Proverbs
13:24 Whoever
spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline
him.
A boy once made headlines as
the result of his repeated acts of vandalism in his neighborhood. Even though
he came from a well-to-do family, he was, by every indication of behavior, a
perfect example of a “juvenile delinquent.”
A reporter quizzed the boy
in detention, asking, “Why do you feel the need to destroy property? Are you
angry?” The boy just shrugged his shoulders and turned away. The reporter
persisted, “Weren’t you afraid of getting a licking from your parents?”
At this the boy looked at
the reporter, and said, “I’ve never had a licking in my life.” The tone of his
voice, however, was not one of anger, but of sadness. The reporter talked with
him further and realized that “not having a licking” meant to this young boy
that his parents didn’t care one whit about him. The young man concluded the
interview by declaring that if the police turned him loose, he would continue
to take out his vengeance on the neighborhood until one or the other of his
folks cared enough to stop him.
Spanking is not abuse. Abuse
is rooted in a parent’s uncontrolled expression of power. Spanking is a form of
discipline intended to restrain and redirect a child’s uncontrolled expression
of their power. Abuse never has a place. Spanking sometimes does.