[Renee]

The biblical principle of ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ is still prevalent in the African-American community. I’m not talking about cussing at or striking your kids in frustration or anger – that’s wrong. African-Amerian mothers generally do not coddle their children or try to be their friend. My mother could have cared less if I thought she was the meanest mother in the world, her word was law. We tend to have more boundaries between adults and children than I see among whites (not a judgment, just an observation). When those boundaries are crossed, it’s corrected. It’s a common belief that many of the problems with today’s Black youth exist because we’re no longer ‘allowed’ by well-meaning members of society to properly discipline our children. But society is not so forgiving when these kids screw up. I’m grateful for every whuppin I ever got. Growing up in the projects in NY, I was too afraid to make the same mistakes a lot of my friends made. I didn’t know what my mother would do to me if I got pregnant or came home drunk or stayed out all night or failed in school and I never wanted to find out. That’s what kept me out of trouble. Biblical discipline is given in love, with the intent to keep the chid on the right path, not in anger or with intent to cause harm. It’s meant to literally put the fear of God in a child. To this day, I don’t cross God or my mother (and not necessarily in that order). There’s a saying, ‘the belt is love, the buckle is abuse.’

User Detail :  

Name : Renee, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 37, City : Denver, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Mother, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Author]

Posts