To my great dismay, I watch some “highly educated” parents demonstrate utter mental confusion and selfishness when they talk about child discipline.  “If you spank the child, you look like a big bully beating up a small child.  If you don’t, the child turns around and ride on your neck urinating and  defecating.  Look at my child now,” said one parent.

First of all, this parent attributes the perceived ill-behavior of the child to “lack of whipping” when the root cause is the failed parenting style or the flaws on the part of the parent/parents.  It is so convenient for such parents to shift blame to the child.  Nothing could be more shameful than this.

Secondly, I am disturbed by any form of physical abuse of the child, no matter what excuse that a parent could concoct up, though I myself am not free from having exerted such abuse before. A parent reveals his/her total incompetence, helplessness and selfishness when he/she resorts to physical means of discipline.

Why selfish?  Why mental confusion?  I will talk more on this tomorrow.