Spanking is Wrong for These Three Reasons

As a psychologist, I often am asked questions related to children, child rearing, and development. One comment I often get from students and parents alike is that they disagree with most experts on spanking. They believe it is an effective form of punishment and (in some cases) have told me that they will not change their mind. I figured today I’d take some time to explain the reasons why spanking is wrong, giving you a chance to think about them and debate.

Defying Classification

I’m writing this post, the first in over a month (my bad!) from a hotel room in New Orleans. I’m down here for the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) conference, having brought with me 5 of my undergraduate students from Delta State. The conference seems to be having the desired effect – students are excited to …

Chapter 30: Quiet

[nnwm15] Well, here it is – the last chapter. These last 10 chapters have been on the shorter side, definitely something I’d expand out in a revision. Sometime in early December I’ll be posting an epilogue to the book, so be on the lookout for that. All told this has been 30 days, and 67,167 …

Chapter 22: The Long and Winding Road

[nnwm15]   Many years ago, when she was about Jamie’s age, G-ma had learned how to knit from her grandmother. The old woman would sit by her fireplace, in a rocking chair, knitting sweaters for her family. It was a stereotypical scene, admittedly, but one that G-ma observed for years as a young girl. 

Chapter 9: Escape

[nnwm15]   “Come over here” “Why are you whispering” “Just follow me” “I don’t want to” “Just do it” “Fine” “We’re gonna get out of here.” “How?” “I have a plan.” “It will never work.” “Sure it will – just because they think it won’t you’re gonna believe them? They don’t know everything. They think …

Chapter 4: Sara Beth

[nnwm15] Sara Beth sat in the corner of the room crying, alternating from light sniffles to harder sobs as she tried harder and harder to tuck herself into a ball. She wanted to block out the whole world, and while successful in doing that, she wasn’t very successful in calming herself down. She never had …

Chapter 2: G-ma

[nnwm15] Mrs. Corum stood there, blinking several times to be sure she was seeing what she thought she saw. There sitting before her was a woman, slightly older than herself, knitting. Well, she would have been knitting, if she had actually had yarn or knitting needles, but her fingers moved in concert as if they …

Announcing Jon’s National Novel Writing Month 2015 Project: A Serial Novel You Can Read Here!

Several weeks ago I sat with a group of students and asked them to think about all the things they had going on in their lives. I had a list of my own, which numbered around 28 items (The students actually helped me remember a few things I had left off!). We talked about commitment, …