It's interesting that many of these passages are the very ones I considered pointing out to you...
A child must see that temporary parental authority is natural and useful and very different from all other forms of non-parental “authority.”
Indeed, it's natural because until the child can wipe it's own ass, you have the authority and responsibility to do that. And it's temporary because once the child
can wipe it's own ass, you
no longer have that authority. This goes for all other aspects of the child's life, as well. as soon as the child can take care of a particular task on it's own, it's your duty to get the
fuck out of the way.
Again, I don't contest this. I stated from the beginning that my authority dies once my children reach the age of reason. Neither my 10 year old son, nor my 12 year old daughter, have experienced
any form of corporal punishment in several years. It's simply not necessary, as they can be reasoned with. My tots don't get any corporal punishment (as defined by the state, they do get time-outs and corner time) because they are surviors of
real abuse and are now officially adopted; but that is a decision based on their particular background, not related to any argument that you can present. And the last child doesn't get punished because she is 1) another foster child and therefore exempt due to contract and 2) she's only 6 months old and quite incapable of any activity that would call for such intervention anyway. So, in practice, my children are not spanked; but not because I don't consider it a useful parental tool, and not because you claim a say in how I raise my kids.
also at times to restrict, even if force may be required to maintain the child's safety.
How did I know you'd use this part? You're just as predictable as I, MoonShadow. Force is sometime necessary to maintain a child's safety, such as the previously discussed example of snatching the child out of the street, or slapping their hand away from the stove. That is defensive force. Punishing the child because they did not do as told, however, is treating the child as an object, and is, at best, retaliatory force.
Of course I'm going to use this part, after you asked me to "bring it on". Again, your opinion as to what is retalitory force is irrelevant. It's my opinion that matters for my own children.
You didn't extend the bold on that far enough, I've remedied that. Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking your authority absolute. You only have authority over what the child
do for themselves.
