ItsSteve|Discipline|68.101.149.38|yes||1024002033|

Hi everyone,
My wife and I are Christian and raised our children biblically. Including on occasion the rod of correction (spanking). My wife wants us to become house parents. I realize that if we decide to do this that the children will not be ours and we will not be able to care for them as if they were our own, however I feel strongly that spanking is a very important tool in an adults arsenal when dealing with inappropriate behavior, disrespect, etc... and thats its a mandate from GOD. So I am struggling with this. Also I am looking for a program that is more for children who cannot find a home, and not a facility for juvenile delinquents. I feel we have a lot of love to give and a lot of experience and educational background. I have been praying about being house parents and I feel this may be a calling. We are new to this any help would be appreciated.

God Bless, Steven and Jennifer Roberts

housepop|Discipline|216.167.146.198|yes|yes|1027285964|

My wife and I have been houseparents for 1 year. Our greatest struggle is the fact we can not paddle the children (as instructed in the word of God), especially the toddlers. We have been blessed in seeing many positive changes in the short time we have been allowed to work with children. It is sooo hard to ask God for direction and help when you know you are not allowed to do as He instructs. There have been unpleasant episodes that would have never developed or escalated into a crisis if we would have been able to apply proper punishment at the proper time. We work at a Christian home, but everyone seems to give in to the ways of the world in this issue. It all boils down to the fact that I know this is God's calling on my life at this time. I had to be obedient to his call and now depend on Him to see me through....I pray that he will lead me to a place that allows us to follow his word or give me the means to help the home change policy to HIS WAYS.....
Remain in prayer and be obedient to Gods direction in your life.....God Bless!

Max|Discipline|65.170.38.10|yes|yes|1039900562|

Houseparenting isn't for people who paddle, whip or otherwise physically discipline children. Many of these kids have suffered horrible abuse and need to be taught other ways of discipline. Spanking may remind them too much of where they used to be. At that point you become, in the eyes of the child, no better than the ones before.

The bible has more to say on discipline than "spare the rod, spoil the child."

Look at the passages on how you should treat those who have been afflicted or harmed in the past. You will see my point then.

If you rely on the paddle with your biological children then houseparenting isn't for you.

Gracecountry62|Discipline|66.54.1.38|yes|yes|1054171312|

As far as i see God has not taken it out of His word though man has yes kids may have been whipped beyond what they should have been done but their is a big huge difference in a spanking with a paddle and a beating with a stick the reason that the State removed paddling from the Foster care program and Child care facilities is because their has been a lot of phisical abuse done and people called it discipline or spanking but is really Abuse . Now we had 2 case workers for the Child Protective Services in the State of Texas agreed that yes a lot of kids need a good paddling but the line was drawn when abuse got out of hand at one time it was allowed but then ruled out . These case workers also told us that they spanked their own kids but said that Child care workers need to refrain from it they wrer not against it just said that everyone needed to follow the rules. This conversation came up when some house parents approached them and asked for their honest opinion they were taking chances for their thoughts on the subject but proceeded with what they said.
We do need to refrain from spanking don't even think about it even though you may spank your own kids you can not spank those in your care.
But the secular government if you may knows better than God and i disagree with Max ones who paddle their own children should and need to become House parents it does not affect on them wanting to allow Christ to love those kids through themselves i know of a great number of House Parents who spank their own kids and are very compassionate people. I thought God calls people into the Ministry of Child Care Max not man.

Grace and Peace|Discipline|67.1.57.183|yes|yes|1054575883|

I don't think paddling a diaper with one's bare hand is bad, but once they reach kindergarten they shouldn't be spanked.
See what Dr. Johnson at www.family-rules.com thinks.
His book is great and he's a great Christian man.
T

(Edited by Grace and Peace at 12:45 pm on June 2, 2003)

Gracecountry62|Discipline|66.54.1.38|yes|yes|1054581639|

No problem with most whay you said but hey i got a better book that you should read and that is Gods word He created mankind and has the best tool for discipline it is called spanking i think i will stick to what God has to say concerning spanking than what Man thinks we should do. because most dismiss paddling though man changes God does not change His word.

MovingOn|Discipline|68.121.19.238|yes|yes|1063178760|

Amen.

These children entrusted to our care are not OUR children and PUNISHMENT is not a part of what they are meant to experience in our care.

I haven't seen much new in the recent years that God has chosen to share with us. Just different interpretations by MAN of the bible to justify his opinions on any given subject.

10Yr VeteranHP|Discipline|69.6.130.142|yes|yes|1076889958|

There will always be this debate in Childcare. What you must consider now in becoming a houseparent is "Can I do this without corpral punishment". Todays standards are much different than yester years. As time has gone by more and more "psychologists" have stepped in bringing in new theories on how to raise a child. Their approach is more theriputic and is more based on communication.
The days of the paddle and corporal punishment are dying out, thats just the facts.
I am not saying it's right that this is happening it's just the way it is in todays society.
I myself do believe there is a time and a place for corporal punishment, and have been sad to see it being totally removed. It like all the other training you recieve is a good tool to have in your box, and should be used when the situation is appropriate for it.
Not all children in care have been abused physically. A higher majority have been verbally or mentally abused.
Our view of Punishment and the childs is much different, and that issue gets twisted more and more each year.
Punishment is a consequence without meaning, disipline means a consequence with teaching added.
You see there will always be a consequence out there, it is simply how the consequence is handled that can determine if it was used as a punishment or as a discipline.
It doesnt matter if you give a child a time out or if you paddle them, if you do it appropriately and if there is a lesson learned from them. Otherwise if there is no lesson to learn you have a punishment, and the child learns nothing.
God has in fact given us many tools to work with children and the use of corporal punishment needs to be held back as a last resort option, when the other tools have not worked and it is deemed necessary by more than just one adult who has lost their composure. It should be a team decision, and should be supervised. I would also state that if you have to give more than "2 swats" your defeating your purpose. If 2 doesn't have an effect more won't either.
I also dont totally agree with the person who said by 2 or 3 you wont need the paddle any more, it's more like if you have done it right hopefully you won't need to used it by the time they reach their early teens. I know if my parents had not used it I would not be as nice a person as I am today. If all they did was talk and give me timeouts, I would have been as disrespectful as the children I see day to day now as a houseparent.
We are here for the children, this is not an easy job as some might have people believe. Houseparents have the most challenging job in childcare because they deal with the children directly, as well as answering up to administration for their actions.
If your looking to be a houseparent get ready for the hardest job you'll ever love.
These children are going to find every weakness you never thought you had and they are going to expose that weakness. Your buttons will be found and pushed. You need to get prepared ahead of time mentally.
I have toured many people thru houses, and frankly they haven't had a clue as to what childcare is all about. They don't get all the facts from office personnel, usually what they get is how nice the children are and how wonderful things are. "Look at the campus, look at the nice children" etc...etc.
This is not a realistic view, and because of this approach I have seen many good people that could have been good houseparents quit and leave because it wasn't what they expected.
Sure there will be good times during childcare, but mind you the rewards are few and far between. You will not recieve alot of feedback, but you certainly will know if you messed up.
Also, keep in mind usually it's not the children that are the "straw that breaks the camels back" it's the lack of understanding and support showed and given to the houseparents from the Office. Many times the office personnel have not clue 1 as to the day to day runnings of a home. All they know is what they recieve on paper. Many have never lived in a home nor dealt with the children in care on a 24 hour basis. All Office personnel need a taste of this. So you don't get a comment like this we recieved once " I don't know how you can deal with that child, I sure couldn't if he was in my house". Now this is not an isolated incident, this came from an administrator with 20+ yrs experiance as an administrator. Believe it or not we also had a similar responce years later with another supervisor who had 9 years experiance.
I have even been called out to deal with a child by an office person because they just didn't know what to do with a child. Mind you they had all the training the houseparents had.

With all that said, corporal punishment is disappearing more and more each year, if your totally hung up on using the paddle, childcare of today is not for you.


(Edited by 10Yr VeteranHP at 6:06 pm on Feb. 15, 2004)


(Edited by 10Yr VeteranHP at 6:10 pm on Feb. 15, 2004)