Dennis Leap is back once more advocating corporal punishment for the children of PCG. He follows in a long tradition in Armstrongism of being an advocate for corporal punishment. Note this is not just one little quick swat on the rear end. It is numerous swats, and in many cases 20 swats is the recommended number to administer. Herbert Armstrong, Garner Ted Armstrong and Rod Meredith were the ones that pushed the 20 swat rule.
Leap starts off with the COG favorite, blanket training. This meant that your child was forced to lay and play on a blanket incomplete silence for two hours at a time, both in your home and at church. Leap is none to happy that some current PCG members are NOT blanket training their kiddies:
Today, some in God’s Church do not blanket train, which makes the teaching of self-discipline more difficult as children mature.
Blanket training is really simple. You should start blanket training as early as when your child can sit up by himself, but definitely by the time he can crawl. (This assumes that you have already been teaching your child not to make noise during services.)
Practice, each day, by spreading a blanket on the floor and have your child sit on it quietly for about an hour. My wife always did her Bible study at the same time. Be sure to sit on a chair next to the child. When your child attempts to move off the blanket or make noise, tell him no once. Move the child back onto the blanket, or give him a hand signal (forefinger against the lips) to be quiet. When your child moves off the blanket or makes noise a second time, you must discipline him. Continue the process until your child accepts the fact that he must remain on the blanket and be quiet. This is self-control in action.
Leap expects your child to learn to submit at an a early age so that when they are adults they will be submissive lemmings in the PCG. If they submit early in life they will submit in adulthood.
My wife and I generally waited until our children were about 18 months before we began “come here” training. We set aside an evening to do this. We called them “Come Here Nights.” I’ll be honest—this is a tough one.
Once children are up and running on their own, they do not appreciate being interrupted from what they are doing. To command them to come to you requires them to give up what they want to do and do what you want them to do. Children want to be their own authority. To submit to your authority requires self-discipline.
This is another vital lesson that must be learned at an early age. Your children will find it difficult to submit to God’s authority if they do not learn to submit to yours. Their physical and spiritual safety depends on obedience to direct commands.
On “come here nights” I told my child to come here—once. I allowed her a brief amount of time to hear, think and respond. If there was no action, I disciplined her. I repeated the process until I received an immediate response.
After you are through beating your child, or kicking them out on the street as Dennis Leap has told members to do to their daughters, your child should NOT have a bad attitude. If they do not smile and have a good attitude when you disciplining them they continue doing it till they do respond positively.
Given the horrendous track record that PCG has in parents abusing their children by severely punishing them, kicking them out of their homes and shunning them, it is even more appalling that parents stay in PCG and think this kind of abuse is normal.When you discipline your child, make sure he responds with a good attitude and right behavior. Make it your goal to not finish a correction session unless your child demonstrates a good attitude and right behavior. This requires love, patience, strong teaching and time—a lot of time—on your part. It will be worth all your effort. As Paul says, there will be great rewards when you meet this goal. Your child will be more happy and on the road to real success. Remember, positive response to correction will help your child forever.
