Are you like me and remember when you were a child and got spanked for back-talking to your parents or doing something you were told not to as an act of correction? Many times it wasn’t just the spanking of a hand but maybe a belt or a switch from a tree. Well, those days seem to be long over! There have been multiple stories circulating of parents, grandparents and even babysitters being arrested and prosecuted for practicing these “Old School” parenting disciplines.

One recent case was reported of a woman who spanked her children after she says she caught them stealing and her subsequent arrest has touched off a firestorm about spanking, discipline, parental rights and abuse. The question is — how much is too much? The single mother of six apparently found out that three of her kids (boys ages 10-13) broke into a neighbor’s house and stole property.

And then there is this story coming out of Arkansas where, An Arkansas woman was taken to jail for using a switch on her great-granddaughter, who she says was misbehaving. Police say the girl has visible welts on her arm. Norma Toussaint, 70, says she’s not a bad person, but says she did pull a switch off her front hedges, stripped the leaves and used it to punish her 12-year-old great-granddaughter. Toussaint said, “I went back in the house and whooped her on her arm.” Upset, the girl threatened to dial 911.


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