Who is in Charge: Government or Parents?

While perusing the world wide web in order to find interesting events that have happened, whether recently or sometime ago, that I believe would be worthwhile to share with our readers, I came across something that says a lot about government and what it thinks abouit how we should raise and discipline our children.

We all agree that child abuse is a very terrible thing which must be spoken against as well as punished to the fullest extent by law. Many parents today are improperly disciplining their children, whether they are overdoing and paddling the them way too hard (which will obviously leave bruises) or not using the proper form of discipline according to their age. There are also times when parents using it propely accidentally leave bruises because the child is acting up and moving around while being punished. Furthermore, we have seen the devastating effects of child abuse throughout his or her life.

Children are a blessing from the Lord, regardless if they are easy or quite a challenge to raise. As parents we must do our very best to make sure our parenting techniques are in harmony with the word of God and not according to the dictates of government. Also, we must not parent out of anger. We must control the way in which we administer punishment, especially when it comes to spanking.

To spank or not to spank is left to the discretion of the parents. If spanking is an option, it should be the last resort after everything else has been tried. When discplining children, there should not be a continuing reliance on only one form of punishment such as time-out. If only one form of punishment is always used, our efforts to raise and discipline them will be inneffective.

The article that pertains to this subject is found at: http://www.volunteertv.com/national/headlines/Mom_pleads_guilty_to_spanking_own_child_124072014.html. To summarize, the Judge was displeased with the method of discipline the mother recently chose for her child, which was spanking. Although there was no evidence of bruises on the child's behind, the mother was still convicted of "child abuse" by the Judge. Although we do not know the entire circumstances surrounding the spanking as well as information about the mother and how she lives, we are mostly concerned with the demand of government for parents to not spank their child or risk being convicted of "child abuse." Notice the statement in the article which the Judge made to the mother: "You don't spank children today," said Judge Jose Longoria. '"In the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don't spank children."'

Although government is a necessary part of our lives, it has no authority to come into our homes and dictate how we, as parents, are to raise our children. While it is fine for government to make laws protecting our children from child abuse and making sure those laws are enforced, it has no authority for telling parents what they can and cannot use for discipline or face the consequences if they choose to use what is not permitted.