The Merits of Spanking (Rewind to Friday)

On Friday I went with Karen to watch as she conducted a "debate" with a group of fourth graders. The topic was spanking. I was curious to see how this was going to work. The debate was over a mock bill that would outlaw spanking (as abusive conduct) and put parents in jail for 45 days if they broke the law and spanked their kids. After announcing the bill, the crowd of children immediately broke out in smiles and cheers. Many of them cocked their heads back and laughed. They obviously liked this idea and felt empowered. My time of amusement was over when Karen divided the kids in half and told them that her friend, Amy, was going to take the side that opposed the bill. So, almost immediately, I become the Evil One. It was somewhat overwhelming to me that I had the task of convincing a bunch of nine-year-olds that having their parents spank them is a good idea and the government shouldn’t be involved. But, honestly, the kids were smarter than I gave them credit. One of them astutely observed, "If my parents are in jail for 45 days, who will take care of me?"