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Kamaduck
Guest
St. John Bosco sounds like he was a wise teacher. 
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LightBound
Guest
St John Bosco, pray for the parents that think they must punish their children in such a manner as shown in that horrific picture of abuse posted earlier and intercede for all the children who suffer at the hands of their parentâs misguided discipline.St. John Bosco sounds like he was a wise teacher.
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Aggie414
Guest
Havenât read all the replies, but I will say this: My mother did it to my sister and me â though we didnât kneel on the rice. But when we complained, she would say âAt least youâre not kneeling on a wooden floor on dry rice like MawMaw made me do.â
We used to BEG to be spanked instead of sitting in the corner on our knees. And there was no sitting back on our feet. NOOOOO. If she caught you doing that, your punishment was longer!!!
We used to BEG to be spanked instead of sitting in the corner on our knees. And there was no sitting back on our feet. NOOOOO. If she caught you doing that, your punishment was longer!!!
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KCT
Guest
Cooked or raw?
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EasterJoy
Guest
Raw, and it is done over hard flooring. It is like having to kneel on bits of gravel in a parking lot. It isnât just that it really hurts (which it certainly does), but also that the childâs cooperation is requiredâtheyâre essentially having to inflict the punishment on themselves, and to keep doing it until theyâre allowed to stop. To my mind, that makes it much worse than pain inflicted directly by the person doling out the punishment.
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Kamaduck
Guest
Yes, the fact that it requites the childâs cooperation makes me wonder how it works at all. Itâs really horrible, the fact that youâre essentially making them hurt themselves. While I donât think the pain itself is at abuse levels, the whole idea of making someone kneel and remain in a painful position does really bother me.
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Aggie414
Guest
I was âpunishedâ this way as a child; and believe me, Iâm a well-adjusted, self-sufficient adult. And we must have seen a different picture in the previous post. I didnât see a picture of horrific abuse. Try working in a courtroom (like I do) and youâll see true horrific abuse.
If itâs not your choice of punishment, donât use it; but donât make it out to be more than it is. I kneel at Mass much longer than my mother made me kneel in the corner.
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maryjk
Guest
Which is what makes it totally different than corporal punishment.
It isnât any different than telling the child to go bang their arm against a brick wall.
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gracepoole
Guest
Did it. My father would use this punishment frequently. When my aunt (a nun) objected, he said he didnât know what to do with us when we misbehaved. If thereâs a possibility that youâll try this method, please donât. It meant nothing to me as a child but pain. Instead, show children that the privileges accorded them can be taken away â even if this means all thatâs left in a childâs bedroom is a change of clothes and a mattress on the floor. There is no physical pain involved and children learn to choose their actions wisely to regain their possessions.
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LightBound
Guest
Um, okay. But you stated you had to kneel in the corner, not on dry rice or corn like the OP inquired about or the frozen peas shown in the picture. You also stated you begged to be spanked instead of kneeling on the floor sans small painful objects bearing your weight upon them. Kneeling at Mass on a kneeler, padded or not, is a far cry from being forced to kneel on peas, corn, or rice. Glad you turned out fine, but I donât think making a child kneel on small objects is productive for any purpose and I do consider it abusive.
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Kamaduck
Guest
Yeahhh⌠I have to admit that I didnât think âhorrific abuseâ when I saw the picture upthread, either. Iâm pretty sure I had imprints like that on my skin from time to time, just because of the places that I chose to sit.
However, itâs not the pain that bothers me. Itâs the idea of telling a child to choose to do something painful to obey their parents. Itâs taking away their agency and forcing them to make a decision that in no way benefits them. Itâs the fact that it sounds humiliating, that it will breed resentment and will not serve any useful purpose. Iâm always going to prefer methods that allow children to make actual choices.
Itâs not torture, but I donât think itâs a good idea, either.
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EasterJoy
Guest
Pretty much. The practice might not get your kids taken away, but it will definitely come up when they talk to their therapist. They would look back on a backside warming with a birch switch more fondly.
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LightBound
Guest
Edit- sorry if I sounded crass in my reply, but it always seems when the topic of some form of corporal punishment comes up on the forum, thereâs always someone defending how they were spanked as a kid and they turned out fineâŚwhich Iâm sure they did, but that doesnât mean others wonât have problems for having physical pain and humiliation intentionally inflicted on them by a loved one because of their misconduct. Anyway, glad you didnât suffer any repercussions later in life and glad it was only a wooden floor and not peas, corn, or grains you were forced to kneel on.
Good people here on the forum, think about how stepping on a grandchild or childâs small toy such as a lego or micro-car feels- now imagine forcing the child you love to kneel on something similar as a punishment. Can one not think of a better way for changing an undesirable behavior that doesnât involve something like this?
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Sunbreak
Guest
This is abuse absolutely, especially if you are talking about dried corn like popcorn. I was made to do this once after being accused of doing something wrong when I didnât do anything wrong as a 9 year old. I never forgot it. There is no excuse for this kind of extreme punishment.
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Book_Worm
Guest
Just because more extreme forms of abuse exist does not mean that this is not abuse.
Iâve read a couple of accounts written by children who were punished this way, and they certainly considered it abuse, even though they also suffered other, more severe forms.
I simply cannot comprehend a loving, caring parent of any intelligence who would resort to inflicting this type of pain on a child or what heinous behavior would warrant it. Of course, any parent who would think this acceptable has probably already failed to be an effective parent, which might account for unacceptable behavior.
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madelynn
Guest
I remember kneeling as a punishment, but not kneeling on something. Personally, I prefer a simple time-out w/o the kneeling. Sitting still in a corner is hard for a kid; they want to move constantly.
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madelynn
Guest
I remember kneeling as a punishment, but not kneeling on something. Personally, I prefer a simple time-out w/o the kneeling. Sitting still in a corner is hard for a kid; they want to move constantly.
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mommamaree
Guest
A HUGE THANK-YOU!
I skimmed through the link here and was pleased with what I saw. I am going to read it more thoroughly later when I have the time, and I might just print it out and laminate it. I am a homeschooling mother of 4, and I am the adult that is primarily responsible for teaching my children proper behavior and instilling a sense of self-discipline in them. I want to be proactive about it and do my best, because the faith and the well-being of my precious children is on the line! I love to read what saints have said about marriage and motherhood, and I am trying my best to internalize it so that it becomes instinctive, since I did not have a model of sane and loving parenting growing up. So this link is a great place for me to continue building up my mental model of a Christian parent. Thanks again.
Mary_Gail_36
New member
You are welcome. Actually Greg Popcak had this link in his blog a few weeks or so ago. I have a 12 year old boy, and would love for him to attend a HS run by the Salesian order, unfortunately, there arenât any in my dioceses.
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KCT
Guest
Sorry⌠the âcooked or rawâ comment was really tongue in cheek because the whole thing sounded a bit odd.
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