A glaring portion of the Bible boldly states, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." That's the Bible; but what does modern man say?
The issue of whether or not to beat a child has drawn a lot of furor from people the world over. The Bible says you should beat, almost all Africans believe you should beat and actually do so, and many Europeans and Americans say you shouldn't. Having varying views on a particular subject makes it very difficult to make your own decision, more so when it has to do with child training. But if you must raise your child the right way, you must make the right decision on this matter.
The modern child gets exposed at an earlier age than children of older generations, and he learns faster, too. With the TV placed in a central place in the home and plenty of channels to choose from - good and bad - your child is open to all sorts of ideas, behaviors, mannerisms, and lifestyles. If you parents think that you can monitor what your child sees on TV or video at home, you may not be able to control what he gets to learn from his mates at school. In fact, children at six years of age can now download all sorts of videos from the internet, and into mobile phones.
The world now is much more dangerous and wanton, and children these days tend to form habits faster. Few blocks away from your home; at school, in your neighbor's house, at the playground, and even in church, your child is constantly exposed to other children and adults who have one questionable behavior or the other. And your child is always watching and learning.
Every child has an innate tendency to be disobedient and dissident. As young as they are they want to do things on their own, hiss at you when you correct them, and hit you back when you hit them.
There is no such thing as letting your child grow the way he is. If you follow such advice you'll lose him. It is not easy to raise your kid from childhood to youth without discipline. And this discipline involves using the rod. You have to beat your child in order to get the best out of him. When a child displays his natural tendency to disobey, the rod, not spoken words, can teach him to do the right thing.
When should you beat your child?
There are many ways to punish your child: you can ground him, increase his household chores for a period, or deny him some pleasures such as watching the TV, or using the rod. The type of punishment should depend on the severity of the offence. So, when should you use the rod?
You should beat your child when he disobeys your direct order over and over. Since he's just a child, it may not be fair to use the rod on him every time he disobeys your order. Remember that children have these moments when they are just nuts. They may remember instructions, but may be enjoying whatever it is they are doing so that they just ignore parental instructions. You should let them off in such situations. However, when your child disobeys a straight-forward instruction from you repeatedly, then, the rod should definitely play its role. The truth is that sometimes children take their parents for a ride unless they are caned.
If you have to flog your child, it should not be done with bitterness or anger. It should be done in love with the sole intent being to correct, not to injure. It's of no use beating your child without telling him what he's done wrong. You must let tell him the reason why you are beating him.
It's very important that you let your child know and truly feel that you are beating him because you love him and want to bring out the best in him, and not because you want him to feel pain. Many parents make the mistake of wanting to make their child feel pain, making him become ever more stubborn.
The injunction to "spare the rod or spoil the child" can't come at a better time than this. Your child needs both discipline and love. Beat with one hand and cuddle with the other.
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