Wrecking our society

Mike Masterson’s column “To spank or not” compared his upbringing with present-day child-rearing, but somehow those spanked kids, and their kids, became happy, productive, contributing adults. A recent letter in the Northwest edition bemoaned today’s over-indulging parents who are raising self-centered narcissists, allowing their children to behave as co-equals in the home. The American Academy of Pediatricians warns that corporal punishment can result in aggression, brain damage, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior. (Really?) This nonsense began in the 1960s when my sons were born—“Don’t say ‘No,’ you’ll damage their psyche!” However, there is evidence that undisciplined children without behavioral guidelines feel insecure and actually are at risk. Schools struggle with students’ disruptive behavior, vulgarity and abusive threats, with uncooperative parents in denial. I recently witnessed today’s parenting at a Cracker Barrel restaurant; a child in a highchair enjoying a temper tantrum, kicking and crying nonstop. Finally, the father carried him out, returning shortly, and the tantrum continued. The mother carried him out, and their return was all smiles; the child was holding a carton with a beautiful toy fire truck. What lesson did this teach him? JBU professor Preston Jones’ piece “Death of thought” was his firsthand observations of the demise on college campuses of discussions of differing opinions, diverse thoughts and ideas. Even though under a banner of diversity, students must be protected from the “stress” they may suffer from diverse thinking and ideas. I believe young people in our institutions of learning are being indoctrinated with socialistic anti-Americanism and left ignorant of the precious gift of freedom given us by our founding fathers. Professor Jones believes this insidious decay of American ideals is gradually wrecking our society. BARBARA FOREMAN Siloam Springs