Right, and of course some laws are deliberately written so that they only apply to certain people (example: Nuremberg laws) or apply disproportionately to certain people (example: poll tax in Southern US states).
I just took my cub scout den on a “meet & greet” tour of our local police station, which was awesome (thank you, Prince George’s County (Maryland, USA) Police Department!).
While I would not dial 911 for discipline, I would certainly feel comfortable arranging a tour, cell visit and “come to Jesus” talk with one of their officers if my kids were on the wrong path. It is easier to build a boy than to mend a man.
I suggest you write to the Mississippi Department of Education, then. About two thirds of the districts in this state still paddle children.
-Joe
Well, I heard that there are laws against child abuse in the US. Over here, that includes beating (or the euphemism for it, spanking).
No, my objection is not to the physical act of spanking (huh? Why would I be opposed only to the act?), it’s the - to me appalling fact - of listing the beating = physical abuse of a child mentioned as lawful option; it’s the mindset that still - in 2009! - believes that beating is not only a lawful option, but a good method of discipline (otherwise, the poster wouldn’t have mentioned it); it’s the use of an euphemism like “spanking” to disguise the severe physical and psychological abuse that a beating is. I’m opposed to all those.
And the post didn’t mention any other measures - the only example given was spanking.
I thought we were talking about an interview I saw on the news where this woman had turned in her six year old to the store manager for putting some stickers under her coat. She had the manager call the police. I didn’t hear any mention of a reward.
You know, a link would be good.
I applaud said mother. The child is going to learn with great reinforcement what the mother will do. The mother is likely to continue to be an important person in the child’s life for decades to come. Do what mom says. Or mom will follow through for you.
Sorry, I missed that there was no link in the OP. I can’t find a link to the first version of the story I read, but this one says more or less what I first saw: http://www.wtov9.com/news/22021761/detail.html
It seems now that she’s changed her tune after the story got some publicity, and she’s had second thoughts about demanding the reward: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/12/23/mom-turns-kid-in-to-police-for-shoplifting.html?sid=101
Those kinds of rewards tend to be attached to criminal conviction of the offender. I wonder if she really thought it through, was $30 a fair exchange for her daughter gaining a criminal record? Did someone manage to convince her of the true consequences after-the-fact, or was it just the general weight of negative publicity?
Good Lord, I guess it is the same woman.
There is nothing in Cosmic Relief’s post that indicated he supports severe spanking. Assuming that he does is logically invalid. The whole point of his post, which he and others have already clarified, is that people that say parents no longer have options for legally disciplining their children are incorrect.
I don’t know that I agree. It seems likely that a mother with a 6-year old child that repeatedly shoplifts may not be the type of mother that follows through on discipline in general. Good parenting is about consistency more than anything else. A parent that goes from no follow-through to extreme follow-through via the police is not acting very consistently.
I admit that I am making a big assumption and that I may be completely wrong. But I think it is as reasonable an assumption as what you have laid out.
Plenty of time to schedule that later.
Could you pick a PD with more of a reputation for uninstigated mayhem? 
I knew of it, and I still managed to get snared by it once. I wouldn’t let my kid talk to a cop in that county under any circumstances ever without an attorney present.
Did you ever get spanked as a child? I’m guessing not and that you just “know” it’s the same as a beating. It’s not. True, once upon a time, kids would have to cut a switch and go “out to the woodshed” for their punishment, but THAT kind of thing generally doesn’t happen now.
There’s a huge difference between a beating and a properly administered spanking. I was spanked, my younger brother was spanked - with a rolled up newspaper when toddlers and a few swats of a hand when older. We’re both fine.