Imperial Valley press., 1914-06-17
TOP WHIPPING CHILDREN
SAYS HUMANE SOCIETY
An open letter to parents:


children are very common. In more
barbarous times, these practices were
universal. In our day, inquiry proves
that most parents believe they have
the right to strike children, especial
ly small children. When punishments
are known to be extremely severe,
neighbors and officers sometimes in
terfere in behalf of the victims. For
one such case which becomes public,
there are hundreds where the parent
is sole judge and witness, and there
is no court of appeal.
There is story and text in the
paragraph which has been printed as
newspaper joke. 1t is joke. 1t
is as follows:
The parent was sure he had inflicted
the right punishment upon the child.
To make the lesson complete, he asked
"Do you know why / whipped you?"
eyes," answered the child, "because
you are bigger than am
Consider this difference in size be-
tween parent and young child.
If giant ten or twelve feet tall
stood over a man or woman end dealt
out blows for infractions of giant
made rules, the parent might realize
what he now does to children. He
probably does not know either the
pain, the physical injury, the ner-
vous shock, the mental effects, nor
the effects upon the other children
in the family. The effect upon the
mother or father is another subject.
The pain is greater than a grown
person realizes. The injury to the
heart is sometimes permanent. Spank
ing and whipping stimulate the Or
gans of sex. The nervous effects are
such that the same child frequently
offends again within an hour. Feelings
of bitterness, hatred, and even re-
venge, ranklc in the heart of the child
The fear engendered in the mind of
the victim and of the other children
is wholly bad. Parental control that
is wise and good cultivates child's
self-respect, as well as respect of par
ents. Whipping is destructive of self
respect. In some ways, this is it's
worst result.
Children who have been asked how
they felt after being spanked or
whipped, have said that it made them
wont to hit somebody, anybody. Since
they didn't dare hit their mothers or
fathers, they had strong impuls,
to hit other children, or to kick the
dog or the cat. One boy said "it made
him feel ugly all day."
The faults of little children are
largely the results of ignorance, acci-
dent, end the >forgetfulness of imma-
ture minds, on the one side, or the
far-off adult point of view, on the
ether. Grown persons would justly
resent corporal punishment visited
upon them for ignorance, accident or
an unknown point of view. Children
try harder to fit themselves into a
grown peoples world than parents
try to mako world for children.
How can any parent have the opin-
ion that children may be taught not
to hit or strike others, by being them
selves hit? How can any parent whip
a child for fault which is plainly
one of inheritance? How can parent
or teacher who resorts to physical
violence, hold up the common rule
Of our so-called civilized society, "Nev-
er hit anybody smaller or weaker
than you are, nor any one who is
defenseless."
Spanking and whipping children
diminishes at just the age when chill
dren are big enough to hit back, and
end when they can really defend them
selves. Theft later offenses arc fire.
quently morc disobedient, more delib.
crate, more serious, and more aggrav-
ating, and large children are more
responsible as individuals, but the
parents control themselves.
Reasonable deprivations or punish
ments take time and brains and self
control. They imply an interruption
in adult occupations and interests
and temporary devotion to the edu-
cation of the child. The parent who
is preoccupied, or ignorant, or selfish,
or tired, is not in condition to be
q Judge over dependent, and there
fore in no condition to inflict any
punishment whatever.
To save time, or to save thinking,
or to cut the interruption to the few
est possible minutes, cowardly blows
are struck.
Slapping, spanking or whipping
children cannot be defended. They
have been universal. They are now
common. They are seldom discussed.
Possibly shame prevents parents from