You go to church. Get a college education. Work hard. Get married. Have kids. Take the kids to church. Teach them right from wrong. Try and tell them how to live good lives.

Good job.

Here’s where that ends.

Teenagers rebel. They want to do it their way. They think their parents don’t want them to have any fun. They don’t see how dangerous things they do just for fun can be.

I’m not talking drugs and alcohol, but instead about riding bikes with no helmets, driving before they turn 16, riding four wheelers across dangerous terrain. Anything can be dangerous, and teenagers push their limits to try and discover for themselves what their parents are trying to tell them not to do because of the consequences.

So you raised your kid right, yet they get into trouble because they have fun that way. You punish them, ground them, give them more chores, take away privileges, but none of this works.

You can’t spank them, because they’ll call child protective services on you, because they know they can do that. (and yes, you can spank a teenager; age has no preference in discipline). Telling them no doesn’t work. But if you use “corporal punishment” they can be taken from you. So, how are you supposed to punish your kids? Did you know that if my 17-month-old baby tried to stick her hand in a light socket at the Medicaid office, and I popped her hand because she wasn’t responding to “no,” they could legally take her away? Just for a slap on the hand? Any kind of punishment that requires you touching your child in any way, is against the law.

You can only teach your kids so many values, but, as many like to preach, we were given free will by God. Priests and pastors can only say so much in their sermons. We cannot force our children to lead good lives and not do bad things. Which means just because a child is a bad seed, does not mean the parents did not do everything they could.

News flash:

Baby boomers, who were spanked by their parents, most of which are wealthy and well-off, some being millionaires, are doing just fine.

Kids today, whose parents are forbidden to spank them, most of which get into trouble, are in and out of juvenile court, and don’t make the grades they should.

Coincidence? I think not.

So, when can someone can stand up and tell me exactly how to get a child to listen, when “no,” grounding, taking away privileges, and adding more chores don’t work, while I am forbidden to use “corporal punishment?”

When someone can offer some effective solutions, then maybe I’ll listen and “obey” the laws that tell me not to strike my child. Until then, I am perfectly satisfied with my method of punishment. After all, she’s a good kid, listens to me, and after a few times getting popped on the butt for trying to stick keys in a light socket, she doesn’t need any more spankings. Spanking has worked for hundreds of years, who is anyone to try and change things now, especially when it is obvious that removing spanking from a parent’s list of acceptable punishments has coincidentally led to an increase in bad behavior?

Stacey Robinson

Natchez resident