Growing up, it only took a "look" from my mother for me to know what she wasn't putting up with. Today, some of the things I endured would be considered "child abuse".

I know Video games have helped turn our nation's youth into "couch potatoes", but let me tell you - this "girl" only wished they had come along sooner... See, I grew up in the "HOT WHEELS Race Track" era, and my mama carried one of those "orange race track" pieces with her in her purse (yea, she "did" that...) everywhere she went... to the grocery store, to the gas station, to church (yesss... Church!) she even carried it to the mailbox, and around the house on weekends while she did her housework, so I already knew that if she was ever called up to my school ... she was comin' with that "race track" in her purse, expecting to use it. And the crazy thing about it was, that "NO one" ever dared ask this woman why she always had a piece of a child's "HOT WHEELS Race Track" sticking out of the side of her purse(???)

I can't describe the feeling of getting whipped with a "race track" for you, at least not in a way that could make you see anything sensible about hitting a child with a "race track" in the first place. But, at least with that race track, I knew what to expect. The times she made me go "pick" my own "switch" off the tree in the backyard were even more agonizing, 'cause depending on the weather, switches could either be "wet" and "strong", or "dry" and "easy to snap". I would prefer not to be hit by "either" but let's just say those wet ones, ... left a "lasting and stinging impression". Oh, and if I was "grounded for a month", she meant exactly 30 days, and kept track... so I dared not ask..., 'cause this is what I would hear... "NO, you've still got 19 days, 17 hours, and 6 more minutes of punishment to serve, now don't ask me again! ... then whatever "friend" knocked on our door asking if I could come out and play, thinking that maybe she would feel sorry for me and let me off punishment...?... would hear the very same thing.

I guess I'm saying that because we were disciplined and told "NO" at times, we developed character. Today kids (oops, I mean children, ... my mama always said that "kids" were baby goats) are scared to get hit (as they should be), but we almost expected it. But if he or she can't have their way, or if you threaten to punish them, they have no problem calling the police on you. The same authority that tells you "how you can or can not" discipline your child, (um hmm, that one with feet bigger than yours, that lives in your house, eat'n up most of your paycheck...) will be the same to lock them up or worse later down the road. We've done our kids (I mean ...chil'ren) a serious injustice, and somehow parents need to reclaim their positions as role models and figures to be respected. Whatever it takes to get the attention of our youth, (and "whomever else" is worried about what's goin' on in your household ... yes, I said it...) be it grounding them more (some people call that "time out" now), confiscating those electronic devices you payed for, or just plain ol' layin' the law down..., I'd rather see them given a good ol' fashioned "treatment" in the home by someone who loves them, than to see something worse happen in the future, out in the streets. I'm only one person, but I'm not bending on this stand, and a whole lotta other folks shouldn't either. I agree, that it's time for a change in this country ... Parents - Take your households back!