By HAROLD KELLER / L’Observateur / April 25, 1999

A couple of weeks ago I ran into my good friend, C. J. Tastet, at the Holiday Innin LaPlace. He always refers to me as “Bro. Keller.” “Bro. Keller,” he said, “Iwas at Shoney’s earlier this morning and a neatly dressed, handsome, young man approached me and said, ‘Hello, Mr. Tastet.’ I didn’t recognize thegentleman, and he detected my uncertainty as to who he was. He thenintroduced himself. ‘I was one of your students at East St. John,’ he said. ‘I’veretired from the Marines after 22 years. It’s a little late, but I want to thankyou for something you did my senior year. I was in trouble and you gave me achoice – the board or a three-day suspension.’ (The board was the paddle usedto discipline students, in other words, corporal punishment.) He continued,’That paddling made me look at life differently. It made me aware that takingthe wrong path in life had its consequences. Again, thank you for beingstrict.'””Bro. Keller,” said Mr. Tastet, ‘I told that young man he should thank his parentsbecause before I ever used the ‘board of correction’ (the paddle) I always received permission from the parents.”My friend, Mr. Tastet, was really excited as he told me about the incident. “Itreally made me feel good about doing my job,” Mr. Tastet concluded.As we parted, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen today if a student was paddled. Come to think about it, parents have a problem using the rod ofcorrection, not because they fear the law, but because they think to discipline the old-fashioned way is a form of child abuse. The Bible says – spare the rod,spoil the child. Maybe the problem with society today is that we’re spoiled.Isn’t it amazing that after 22 years an ex-student thanked a principal for paddling him at age 17? Maybe that should teach us something about discipline.

Over 10 years ago, Josh McDowell, a noted Christian author and national speaker, released a poll that showed what teen-agers expected from parents. Ithink the results would hold true today. The survey said that 85 percent of theteen-agers surveyed wished their parents had disciplined them more.

Surprised? If you are, let me remind you that children are crying out for love, discipline and direction. Discipline helps direct your child and shows love, ifadministered in a godly manner.

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

Internet services provided by NeoSoft.

Best viewed with 3.0 or higher