High Life A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : How Do Your Parents Punish You?
” . . . Then spare the rod, and spoil the child.”
Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
Discipline measures sure have changed over the years. What used to be common practice among parents in the past might today make mom and dad appear guilty of child abuse.
But teen-agers aren’t always on their best behavior. When you do mess up, Hot Topics wonders: “How do your parents discipline you?”
“They just yell.”
Rammy Bakhshandepour, 15,
freshman, Laguna Hills
“Groundation--no phones, no going out.”
Tracey Hojo, 17,
senior, Huntington Beach
“My mom wakes me up at 2:30 in the morning and makes me clean the showers and all the windows in the house. Then I have to do yard work until the sun sets.”
Robert Benefield, 17,
senior, Savanna
“I’m grounded on the weekends, and my younger sister has to write 100 sentences.”
Rachel Gillespie, 17,
senior, Irvine
“Mostly, I get sent to my room. That’s not so bad, since I do have Nintendo, a TV and a stereo.”
Vince Coleman, 17,
junior, Western
“They taught me discipline by hitting me when I was young, as with other kids. They try to be close to me so I can learn how to act. I thank them for that.”
Terry Hwe, 16,
freshman, Saddleback
“Yelling, screaming, giving the guilt trip, lectures, threats . . . the works.”
Stephanie Chung, 14,
freshman, Katella
“They restrict me from driving my friends around because they think it hurts me.”
Craig Alpert, 16,
sophomore, University
“There is really no discipline in my house. If you’d do something wrong, (my parents) would give us this long lecture. We don’t get grounded or anything.”
Dung Lu, 17,
senior, Ocean View
“They take away things that I like.”
Tiffany Volk, 16,
junior, Laguna Hills
“They give me independence. Oddly enough, I behave.”
Viengkeo Chanphiananvong, 17,
senior, Savanna
“A lot of the time, my parents let me decide my own punishment, because they think I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”
Kelly Gordon, 16,
junior, Western
“They just leave me alone.”
Mike Nostrome, 16,
junior, Irvine
“They tell me to disappear.”
Derek Ogle, 18,
senior, University
“Well, my mother (and grandmother) taught me how to be good since I was merely 3 or 4. She scolds me when I do wrong. I guess you can say I’ve had my fair share of spankings.”
Tiffany Lan, 14,
freshman, Saddleback
“My parents don’t normally punish me because they were badly punished when they were young.”
Heather Wiltshire, 16,
sophomore, Western
“My mother punishes me with her guilt-trip speeches.”
Alaina White, 17,
senior, Savanna
“If I do something that (my mother) says not to, I get a lecture for about 20 minutes, but I haven’t had a whippin’ for quite some time now.”
Marcelle Banks, 14,
sophomore, University
“They won’t let me go out. I can’t go places where I want to go.”
Tony Canini, 17,
senior, Huntington Beach
“My parents are very liberal. They believe that I am capable of restraining myself and exercising discretion wherever I see fit.”
Steve Caviness, 17,
senior, Savanna
“They send me to my room and restrict my TV time.”
Lisa Campbell, 14,
freshman, Laguna Hills
“When I mess up, they usually take away my car. Haven’t you seen me walking for the past two weeks?”
Joe Najera, 17,
junior, Katella
“They send me to my room until they say I can come out.”
Jessica Weimer, 18,
senior, Irvine
“They have been constantly telling me all my life about manners, values and other such things that will benefit me later in life.”
Ivonne Monreal, 16,
junior, Saddleback
“In my home, there really is no discipline. My parents trust me in making the right decisions in life. I study not because my parents force me to, but because I want a good future.”
Cuong Ly, 16,
junior, Ocean View
“My mom does not believe in restriction. She trusts me and my judgment. I think restriction only hurts you if you want to get around it, and that gets you in even more trouble.”
Camille Palazzo, 16,
junior, Savanna
“My mother really doesn’t discipline me. She just talks to me. She knows that I understand between right and wrong.”
Julie Ritchie, 15,
freshman, Saddleback
Next Week’s Hot Topic:
What scares you?
Hot Topic responses gathered by Jane Wey (Huntington Beach), Adria Silva (Irvine), Amy Johnson (Katella), Megan Kenney (Laguna Hills), Felice Wu (Ocean View), Nguyen-Hong Hoang (Saddleback), Jonathan Han (Savanna), Kiley Coble (University) and Heather Orey (Western).
