It Takes a Village?

It has been said that a lot of the issues contributing to the decline of society in terms of crime stem from the lack of parental guidance, discipline, and even corporal punishment. There's already controversy surrounding "whoopings," but even if a parent decides to whip his/her children, should other adults be allowed to do so?

I recently came across a video from Mediatakeout which shows a young man laying a belt to the backside of a teen who he caught stealing his pants. The adult didn't contact the police, not wanting to put the teen into the justice system. He said that he was going to take the teen home, but the teen won't tell him where he lives.

In all honesty, I like this video.

The reason I like it is because the teen was disciplined, he wasn't placed into our corrupt justice system, and probably the biggest reason I like this video is because the man issuing the punishment followed up by placing himself in the young man's life to guide him.  While initially I would be HIGHLY upset if I found out someone whipped my child, once I found out why, I'd probably be appreciative of the fact that he was punished and that he was not taken to police.

However, this is a very sensitive subject with extremely fine lines. Personally, for the most part, I don't think people should take it upon themselves to discipline other people's children for minor issues. For instance, my brother Jared and I were probably the most mischievous of our family.  We weren't bad, we just stayed into stuff as children.  Another adult that caught us throwing plums at each other might deem it necessary to have us to get a switch from the plum tree whereas our mother knew that all she'd have to do is say the right words to us and we'd be remorseful and crying. My daughter is the same way. In her four years, I can count on one hand how many times she's gotten a spanking. Now, I will pop her, but spanking her just hasn't been necessary.

The thing is parents know their children for the most part and know what is necessary to get their children on the right path, and not all parents raise their children the same. I've seen other children whipped with phone cords, extension cords, and even fan belts. All of that was excessive to me. I would even venture to say borderline abusive, but these were punishments issued by their fathers, and I've never seen any of them disrespect their parents.  Neither do I know of any of them ever being arrested.  This is not to say that they've never done anything illegal, but if they did, they didn't get caught.

So, back to the case of the young man in this video. He's a young teen, obviously headed down the wrong path.  He refuses to tell his victim where he lives and allow him to talk to his parent(s).  Yet, the victim doesn't want him to go unpunished and continue down the wrong path, but at the same time, he's preventing the young man from the justice system. Was the adult wrong in this case? What do you think he should have done? What would you have done? How would you feel if this was your child and you found out he got a whooping from another adult for stealing?