Get that man a spot on the Maury Povich show! By all means, let's bust some kiddie heads. Let's have a big black drill sergeant yell in their faces when they give us 'tude. While that's being done, destroy the programs which enabled a previous generation of children to go to college.
I'm willing to give "Heartland" the benefit of the doubt. The kids might very well have gotten dirty just being on a shit detail. (Of course, I could easily believe the other version. The high-handed comments of the Heartland founder don't encourage trust.) However, I just saw two parents on a morning talk show discussing a child of theirs who died at a boot camp designed for troublesome kids. Apparently the youngster died as the result of some harsh "discipline." Such incidents seem to have less to do with Christian theology than a general paranoia in regards to youth.
Besides, how do you know that "punishing them for slacking" will not create the kind of idle consumers you decry? Might such discipline make them less likely to question authority, including the authority of an advertiser?
-- David