healer

I was on the receiving end of many a hiding in my youth, both at home and at school (back then teachers were allowed to physically discipline kids). I remember one time, I must have been 7 or 8. Me and a friend were running around in our neighbour's backyard trampling flowers and making a right mess of the place. After one or two ignored warnings, Joseph came out and gave us both a few whacks on the ass. I, like an idiot, ran home to tell my father, where I promptly received more of the same. The point of my story is, I believe I'm a better person today because of it. And it reinforces my belief that it takes a village to raise a child.

In response to the OP, I think the grandmother was perfectly within her rights to do what she did. Granted, she probably did it out of shock and fright, but it was by no means the wrong thing to do.

I can't imagine what kind of effect this will have on the kid who got spanked/smacked. Will he be afraid to tell the truth from now on? Will he think that the whole thing was his fault? Will his siblings resent him for what he did? All these things could've been avoided if some rational thinking had just been applied to the situation.

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