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And what about the idea that hitting a child merely teaches them to hit?
First: No. Wrong. Too simple. For starters, “hitting” is a very unsophisticated word to describe the disciplinary act of an effective parent.
If “hitting” accurately described the entire range of physical force, then there would be no difference between rain droplets and atom bombs.
Magnitude matters—and so does context, if we’re not being wilfully blind and naïve about the issue.
Every child knows the difference between being bitten by a mean, unprovoked dog and being nipped by his own pet when he tries playfully but too carelessly to take its bone.
How hard someone is hit, and why they are hit, cannot merely be ignored when speaking of hitting. (en) |
