Letters to the Editor – 10/8/14

Keiki discipline

Although I very much agree with the headline on Jade Moon’s column, “Beating Children Is Not A Spanking,” I somehow get the feeling that this article in its entirety is putting discipline via spanking to shame. Yes, I am definitely against the “beating till they’re swollen and there are cuts everywhere” method, but I also feel that every now and then kids need a good spanking.

I guess it goes to show that I was one of those people who would argue, “But my parents spanked me, and I turned out just fine.”

The problem with this way of thinking, as I believe, is that kids will slowly but surely use this to their advantage to where the slightest form of discipline will spiral into something more, and the person at fault here would be us parents. For example, just the other day at the grocery store, I was dumbfounded when a mother of four kids was trying to get her oldest daughter (about 6 or 7 years old) to stop pushing things off the shelves. To my disbelief, as the mother grabbed her daughter’s hand, her daughter turned and in the calmest voice I heard, “No! I’m gonna scream. I’m gonna scream,” and slowly but surely the mother dropped her daughter’s hand and walked away with an “I am so ashamed” look written all over her face.

And there it was, living proof that this whole “evolving” idea needs to be taken down a few notches.

I come from a culture where discipline is strongly recommended, and it comes in all shapes and sizes. Growing up where I grew up, there were never any cases of kids on a killing spree, nor were there any kids killing their own parents, and the rate of teen pregnancy was little to none. Talking back to any grownup did not exist, nor did sitting around while your parents did all the cooking and cleaning. We never lived by the “be home before the streetlight comes on” rule. It was always, “as soon as school gets out, you had better be on your way home already.” We wore uniforms from the first day of kindergarten till the last day of high school. Pretty much by the time we were able to discern wrong from right, we had no excuse whatsoever to ever act out or even try to throw a tantrum, or even attempt to act stupid.

My point here is, it is very wrong to “spank” children till they’re bruised, but if we truly try to “evolve” and completely cut out spanking altogether, I fear we will only be setting ourselves up for disappointment.

Alanna Lam Yuen
Aiea

Very helpful

Though I respect his military service and years as a POW, I seldom agree with Jerry Coffee’s politics. That said, I appreciate his personal story of suffering a stroke, and of the new medication that reversed the effects of the stroke. This is good, practical information.

I wish Mr. Coffee well.

Ed Yee
Honolulu

Issues matter

Susan Page wrote a lovely column this week praising Duke Aiona for his apparent generosity and thoughtfulness regarding her charity for African orphans.

She concludes by saying, “Sometimes it’s not issues but character that wins the vote.”

Ah, but not so. His personal character notwithstanding, Duke Aiona would work to deny/frustrate Hawaii’s women their legal and Constitutionally protected right to control their bodies/reproduction. Look at his history. And look at what has happened in other Republican governors’ states such as Texas, Wisconsin and Arkansas, to name a few. It is, in fact, issues, not just “character,” that must decide our votes, for women and the men who love them.

Kate McIntyre
Hawaii Kai

Cheering Marcus

Thank you to Don Chapman for writing such a great article on Marcus Mariota, who is such an awesome young man (“Mariota: ‘I’ve Come A Long Way'”). Marcus is truly a class act, and so well-admired and loved not only by those in Hawaii but definitely those in Oregon as well.

Like Don, I was at the Oregon-Wyoming game, and sat right there in Section 3 (end zone), so I had a close-up view of Marcus’ flying touchdown. I was there watching my daughter Lindsey, who is a member of the Oregon cheerleading squad. In the Eric Evans photo showing Marcus’ touchdown flip, she is the cheerleader on the far right.

Lindsey is a Kamehameha graduate, class of 2012, and an alumna of Drill Team Hawaii. She absolutely loves it in Eugene, cheering on the Ducks and especially all the local boys who are there playing and hopefully those who will be playing in the coming years.

Andrea Hussey-Leong
Honolulu

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