Children deserve to be disciplined

Hi guys. We’ve been having fun. Okay, maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been having fun. Now I’d like to get a little political. I want to talk about disciplining children. You need to know that the only child I’ve been involved with is my stepdaughter who was fourteen when we met. I haven’t been involved with the actual training of a child. In my opinion that makes me perfect for this subject since I really have no idea what I’m talking about.

Children need to be disciplined. What came to mind when you read that sentence? Putting the child in a corner? Whipping them lightly with a switch? Locking them in a closet? Hanging them by their thumbs? Most people have strong feelings about how to punish children, but I don’t want to get into that right now.

Children need to be disciplined consistently. I have not raised a child, but I have a horse. For him, walking down a woods trail in the spring is similar to one of us was walking down the middle of an ice cream buffet. He’s surrounded by his favorite flavors: poplar, maple, oak. All he has to do it reach out and take a bite. For McKenzie, my horse, that’s a trail ride. If I ever allow him to start eating, he buries his face in leaves and loses all desire to walk down the trail. He doesn’t worry about little things like keeping all four feet under him. He falls. He trips. He wanders off into the woods. To stop him, I have to correct him every time he tries to eat. Every time. If I stop him nine times and then lose focus on the tenth, and he’s able to grab some maple leaves, (his favorite) he has learned that sometimes he gets maple. He doesn’t really know it’s maple, but he knows he likes it. So he tries harder to eat, because sometimes he succeeds. If I can stop him ten out of ten tries. He stops trying. He concentrates on the trail. It’s much safer for everyone, and we both enjoy the ride more.

Children deserve to be disciplined consistently by their parents. When my wife bought her first mare, Scooter, the horse was pregnant. We purchased the mare but not the baby so Scooter stayed with the seller until time to wean the colt. This was Scooter’s sixth baby. Ginger had started riding and grooming her regularly. Scooter was over the baby thing. She would allow the little guy to nurse, but that was it. She never disciplined him. She never taught him right from wrong. She didn’t teach him how to be a horse. He was allowed to do whatever he wanted. By the time he was a full-grown stallion, he was a jerk. One thousand pounds of bone and muscle jerk. If his own momma didn’t care how he acted, why should he listen to anyone else? And he didn't.

Not only does my gelding need to know what he can’t do, he’s more comfortable letting me be the boss. If I’m telling him what to do, then it’s my job to take care of him. To protect him. He might try to be boss, but he really wants me to be in charge. He feels more secure when I am. How many human children want to be boss? They push the line, but only because they want to know they can’t cross it.

I know that horses and humans are different. But do you know any kids who get their own way, sometimes. Sometimes they get away with talking back to or even hitting their mother. Crossing the road. Spanking the dog. Even worse, do you know any kids who’s parents think it’s cute when they misbehave, some of the time? Then when they’re tired of living with a brat, they punish the child.

There has to be a line and every time the child crosses that line, he has to be corrected. Whether it’s don’t argue back, don’t hit your mother, don’t cross the street alone, don’t steal food from the pantry, don’t beat the cat, or don’t stab your sister. Whatever it is, draw a line and every time the child crosses it, discipline them. I know every time is hard. But it’s the only way it’ll work. It’s the only way they’ll know you’re the boss. In the long run, it’s easier than bailing them out of jail.

They deserve it. McKenzie deserves to be able to walk down a trail without worrying about snatching leaves. He deserves to know that someone stronger than him is taking care of him. Scooter’s baby deserved to grow into big, strong stallion instead of a problem no one wanted. Every child deserves to live free of worry. To know the difference between good and bad. To know someone is taking care of her.

Each child deserves parents who will take the time and trouble to discipline him every time.