In light of anything interesting to talk about, I'm resorting to this article I just read (but forgot to get the link to) about disciplining children. More specifically, it was talking about spanking and the long-term detrimental effects it has on kids. Now I don't know if you're pro- or anti-spanking, but I was spanked as child when I misbehaved. That's not to say my parents took every opportunity to "beat" me. Let's clear this up right away: spanking and beating are two different things.

See? Big difference. My parents never beat me. Never.

Now, here's the thing. When I was growing up, all it took was a few spankings to learn how to behave. I didn't have multiple time-outs. I wasn't put on restriction. I knew better than to act out, whether it was at home or in public. I won't say I was afraid of my parents, but I was afraid of my parents.

Kids today are completely different. Their whole mentality. For the most part, kids in today's society are horrible. Almost to the point that I don't want to have any. They're given so much at such an early age it's as if they start to think that everything is beneath them or something. What happened to the days when kids used their -gasp- imaginations? Played outside? Read?

Now kids just sit on their butts all day long playing video games and surfing the internet, and when they're not doing that they're constantly talking or texting on their cell phones. Or driving around on a seemingly endless supply of gas that they're not paying for.

I can remember a time when going out to a restaurant was a treat. Now I base where I eat on whether there are children inside, and most of the time if there are kids dining in I keep driving. I can't count the number of kids I've seen throw a fit in a public place in the last 10 days while their parents stand by looking at a loss of what to do.

Parents take away car keys only to give them back in two days because they don't want to be saddled with driving their kids places. Cell phones are given back after mere hours because parents don't know how to deal with their kid being a brat over not having one.

Ultimately, those methods don't work. Now I'm not advocating the use of violence towards children. But, in my opinion, a little physical discipline would go a long way in curbing the growing number of hellion children populating the planet. Just think about it. If they continue to grow up this way, they're going to destroy the planet because they don't get their way. And as the future leaders of the world, they'll have every opportunity to do just that.