The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 35, Ed. 1, Friday, February 8, 1991 Page: 2 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Abilene Christian University Library.
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Opinion
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-Vi D Morris Managing Editor
f"w KdtM Alewine Opinion PagtEditor
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Edftorfcil Boiinl
feetiy Ba-ttros Brian Belt WencMI EdWafds Amy Ellis Mails Endshiy
Lance Fleming Bobby Gombert Lucas W. Hendrlckson Wendy Hornbaker
Brandon Lelrd Katharine Poteet Rotoyrt Stultz H. Tockl Thomas
Teachers and administrators
should have the option to spank
Imagine a city ill which the police'
men arc not allowed to carry firearms.
Several of the city's police officers
have used their weapons improperly so
none of the police are allowed to carry
guns. The police force would become a
mockery and criminals likely Would
haye their own way.
But that would never happen: though
some police have misused the ;.
weapons wc know that the guns still
arc. essential to maintaining order.
Why do some people insist we ban
the schools' use of corporal punish-
ment? Some people believe that corporal
punishment should never be allowed
not even in the home; But the Bible
tells us jp Proverbs that if we do not
use the rod we will spoil the child. If
we believe what Proverbs says then
wfe' must believe that corporal punish-
ment is a necessary method of disci-
pline. And nowhere is corporal punishment
more needed than in the school system
where children should be learning dis-
cipline. To remove that option from
porporal punishment in schools
is iunn&eded ;reg3$ra$fMft&
The United States the land that
boasts of its devotion and love for chil-
dren . is one of the two natipns left in
the world that still allows corporal pun-
ishment in public schools.
Corporal punishment has been out-
lawed in onl 1 1 states and" irr a few (
individual school' districts within states
where it continues. Why haVeh't we
resized that paddling children doesn't
make a better learning environment
and eradicated its use like most of the
World?
These arguments support the aboli-
tion of corporal punishment in public
school systems.
First of all the lessons learned by
corporal punishment are short-lived. In
fact many children opt for a paddling
irt order to get their punishment pver
with quickly. Children who are paddled
don't stop being bad; therefore it is an
ineffective method of discipline. Chil-
dren usually contrive ways to avoid
gating caught the next time.
Second corporal punishment con-
tributes to feelings of powerlessncss
and resentment among children. School
administrators should encourage chil-
dren and promote self-esteem. Young-
sters should comply with school rules
out of love arid respect for their teach-
ers not the fear of a wooden stick.
Third the use of corporal punish-
ment in public schools is based on the
premise that the school administrate!
wjll give an appropriate number of
"ppps" and that he or she will maintain
self-control But too often the admin-
istrator loses control.
An emergency room physician in
Rower of procrastination is common to collegiate lifestyle
The sign miRht as well be titled "The
Lifdofa College 'Student.
itishows an orange cartoon cat fast
asleep" and holding the letter "O". Beside
the cat lie the letters "T" "O" "D" "A"
and "V". The sign states: "Never put off
Until tomorrow what you can d ." The
poor kitty couldn't finish putting up the
letters to complete the words "do today."
Who doesn t understand where that
Cat is coming from?
Procrastination is like a big black hole
located in the center of this campus per-
haps somewhere tq the left of the G ATA
Fountain. $u matter Where you are
tirotmd campus you can feel its suction.
And its power varies according to how
far away sldents' assignments arc
But how does procrastination Work
i the boofc "Procrastination" .written by
o women wh rh.D.'s the cycle of
ttkig things off is listed.
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teachers would make maintaining order
next to Impossible.
But more important removing cor-
porul punishment from our schools
would be to give in to the world's
thinking toward punishment. The trend
toward avoiding a good spanking is
one the world is following. EveVthe
National PTA in 1985 adopted the no-
spanking idea. ' "v
As Christian author Roy Ltissin
states making a child sk in a corner or
denying the child a privilege only
makes the child regret being caught; it
docs not make the child regret what lw
or she has don wrong. A painful
spanking can bring a child to true i 1
repentance. ''-.'
Each school will have students upon
wlrom a spanking wilt have no effect '
Administrators rriu-st decide what type
of punishment will have the most posi-
tive outcome in each situation. And
any spanking should and can be wcll-
monitorcd in order to keep it reason-
able. Schools simply must have corporal
punishment as an option.
uitifcHfwtV
Georgia examined a 12-year-old boy
with bruises on the thighs and buttocks
and did what he must do under the law
report an Incident of child abuse. If
the father had committed the abuse he
would have been.threwn jn jail Ixjt the
teacher was protected by lawl
Fourth too often the students who
misbehave are the students who arc
neglected at home. They are saying
"Pay attention to me." Then the atten-
tion they receive at school is negative
and degrading. Their behavior was a
cry for help.
Corporal punishment has no positive
effects and teaches violence as a solu-
tion to problem-solving The simple
fact is that misbehaving is part of
growing up and we must teach chil-
dren more appropriate behavior. We
must teach self-control.
More logical alternatives to corporal
punishment can be used by school
administrators such as making the
punishment fit the crime. The child
who is caught littering on the play-
ground probably won't do it again If he
has to spend recess picking up trash
instead of playing with friends
Dr. Chantrey Fritts chairman of tlie
Education Department believes corpo-
ral punishment is a non-professional
form of discipline. He believes in using
methods such as taking away recess
privileges and rewarding good children
for their behavior so that they will want
to behave.
Stopping corporal punishment in
public schools would not mean an end
to school discipline. It would mean an
end to negative school discipline.
The first phase is "I'll start early this
time." This is the phase during which '
students find out when their papers' are
going to be due and think smugly vIt
might as well be due in a week because
I'm going to get on it and have the paper
done by then." The switch Jo live big
black hole is moved to the "on" position..
Next comes he "I've got to start V
soon" phase. Extremely important things
have kept the students from getting the
early start they had hoped for. These dis-
tractions include things like going shop-
ping at Eckerd's for a Vtda-1 Sassoori
product or going out on a date. with
someone they don't like but pretend they
do. The black hole starts to swirl.
Now is the time that the "What if I
don't start?" phase begins. One Symp-
tom of this phase is guilt brought on .by
realizing' the'prorrtise of an! early' stair
was broken. And students typically
smiss
God bridges cultural differences
Street and store signs were the first
definHe-mnrkers indicating We had .
entered a different country
Watitbg through the dkarray of cars
clowns juggled ort the street foe money.
Traffic signals and street signs meant
very little to drivers who seemed to
stop go and change lanes whenever it
was safest.
Crossing the Mexican border Into
Picdras Negras was a definite shock.
Many things were different. My mind
could not comprehend that just a riarrow
border could divide two countries that
were so contrasting.
I didn't see any speed limit signs;
vendors were every where on the streets;
everyone had dark hair and rto one
spoke English litis place was different.
Throwing trash out the window or the
back door Was not uncommon; wearing
a scatbclt surely did not seem to be a
priority; and no one spoke English This
place was different.
I was not sure how I Was going to
relate to these people. What did we Have
in conwwh? Their culture Was'so'differ-
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"'7 tmats Right 6aommi Vm tJifS' ''
' ;j jr. Thiauc we'd ausTtaHKefc W .- f " pl - ; ; k
Show compassion for
At a subway station in the winter a
man stands holding a paper cup beg-
ging for loose change. On a busy street
one man approaches another asking for
money or a coffee. On a university
campus a student asks for financial help
from a friend only to be turned
down. In a store shoppers ignore a
young motltcr laden with groceries and
her crying child.
Of course someone helped them
right?
How could we ever know unless wc
were the ones' to help them?
Oddly enough there aic so many
opportunities to help but so little oppor-
tunists. Some students are .involved in
organized programs like Spring Break
Campaigns Alpha Phi Omega the
Noah Project and Meals on Wlicels
in fact most are. But docs our compos-'
sion for the needy stop when we finish '
our so-called "service to others?" For
those of us not involved in organized
services are we showing our compas-
sion to the poor hungry and homeless
of Abilene?
exhaust all activity possibilities like
straightening their desk writing a letter
and singing in front of their mirror. The
black Vie is really starting to suck
'ProcrtsttnVon Is Ilka
a big black hob located
In fho canter of tbt$
campus perhaps
someWhero to tha left
of the GATA Fountain'
Keith
Alcwinc
Piece of My Mind
Many students have reported incidents
of sitting down to do homework and
being suddenly lifted put of the chair
and hurled to the Campus Center bowl-
ing alley or to Dallas for the weekend
hL vi vHBb
jjj
ent and I was laf fronl tacj thtr
language. ' ' i "
.Then 1 met Jonje. He fcew nwrt'l no
English except for "Ice Ice Baby" a
song lyric he learned from MTV. But he
was able to slowly utter1 in English "I
-4- love my life."
'Tn&ilmtfJorgt.tk
knw ntxt to no
English except for 'lea
lea Bab?' a adng lyric
ha teamud from MrV "
Betty
Battros -
Betty's Box !
1 asked him "Per que?" which means
"why?".
Ifc said to me "Gracias a Dies'
which means "thanks to God.' t
lipid him that was beautiful a4 that
is aoeut sN we snmI. It was ftvstratiftf
not fe be ahfe to communicate. Evety-
; f
PH6T5 euOOBMWBClDTIFlAriK
15nT a Bad vacation spern
Most of the time students feel too
busy to help those to whom some
mishap has occurred. They either hove
some much-needed studying to do or
some church function to attend. Most of
the time students are too worried about
their own proWcins like how much
"For rttQM of u not
Involved In servic?.
trtm Stowing our
cbntpimhn to tht
poor hungry kkI
homthm ofAkihnil'
H Todd
Thomas i
Perspective
money they made last week.
However when students are left alone
on the highway halfway between Mid'
landOdessa and Abilene don't they
wish someone would stop tchelp them
fix their flat tire? Don't they pray that
their problems will find happy solu
The next phase in the procrastination.
cy9le is thcThcrp'js .still time" phase
This is the little glhH.of hope fcjuod it '
the midst of turmoil. The hope usually is
produced by realising that the student
really doesn't have to' go to class or
Chapel or lunch or dinner or bed. Yet
with all of this newfound time some
students see that they really don'thave-
to cancel their plans to see the new Rick
Moranis movie. The black hole starts to
suck in light rays dust and songbooks
from Red Section A and more students
arc physically ripped from their papers
and projects. " '
After the Moranis movie whkhusiMl-
ly is intellectually chaHenging but emo
tionally unsatisfying the student makes .
it to what the authors pall 'JThc Final i
Choicg: To Dp or Not toDa" Sonfcstti-
' dents choose to give lip brtlhe assign-
ment but most decide tq go altead and
.."v" . Wa V-V
..llll III y
thing' was so different
Sunday mowing we went to church.
Fro the cotichMeJIoor in the slightly
stained white-washed celling the
church buikHng stood barren (Ofay
frivolous ornaments. A simple edtffce
h
without a heater or air conditioner
served hs'purposc. As I walked into the
tmadorned building I did not walk past
a single person without having someone
greet me with a handshake.
The church building was cold we
could sec our breath but it didn't seem
to botltcr anyone'. Things were so differ-
ent in this foreign country. I
As we sang some songs and the Mcxi-W
cans loudly filled the entire room with
heartfelt praises to God4 everything t
began to click. Suddenly nothing
seemed different.
My mind remembered Jorge's words
"I love my life thanks to God." f
Isn't that what It's all about? I wa siU
ting in a foreign country in a foreign- 'W
pew singing praises to God to a foreign M
language but nothing was different.
Gfaclas a Dios.
f
the needy
tions? Of course they do just like the '
people discussed earlier. We arc human. '
We hurt. Wc help. Wc ignore those 4
needing help. 1
Sometimes individual help Is hit and
miss; Someone helped the man at the
subway station giving him a few dollars .
and some Lance crackers. The man on
the street received a large coffee from a
businessman arrayed in a pin-striped
suit. The mother apd student were not
so fortunate.
There are many people like the moth-
er and awtent in Abilene who need our
love and encouragement. They aren't
necessarily pretty. They aren't neccssar-
ily rich. They don't have Polo shirts and
Guess jeans. Then again maybe they '
are and maybe they do. ''
We've seen them Why haven't we
helped them? Do wc somehow think
ourselves better more elite than those n
needing our financial emotional and
spiritual support? Let's hope not. Other-
wise our Christian raiment supposedly .
beautiful is'merely a piece of tattered
cloth wkh a dirtied label. l
get started. At that point the black hole J
is switclied off and the students begin to
say 'This isn't so bad. Why didn't I
start sooner?" or "Just get it done."
All of the students gp on to complete &
the cycle by-promising jo remove tle
evil procrastination from their lives; But
in keeping wkh the reason procrastina-"'
tlon is.called a "cycle" the students
begin again with phase one. ' t
AutborshaVeprbposedmanywaysto 'n
defeat procrastination .Some suggestion'
Include setting up intricate schedules :
setting .k-term and short-tew goals
and worktag with motivatlontech.
nkjwes.Buttothtrucprocrastinator ".
these methods arc simply something else
to FtftkfKby adding stress anif
guihvWho needs k? " - -.
Why hotS&st Wick Willi Jbetriei awl 'U
trwwthod of experiencing life one JA
delay after another?
At - . -
WMWlfln. .. k. -.- . ..uirii. - . VS. . Ji.-JK-Ka-WH K.!j.:'l-i7'-; - ;" " ""'' -
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 35, Ed. 1, Friday, February 8, 1991, newspaper, February 8, 1991; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth96229/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.