> 1. your child age 9 asks you to buy something in a store, you refuse, the
> child starts screaming, punching and throwing things at you - would you
> give that child what it "needs"?
>
> 2. you decide not to, take that running amok child by the hand to the
> parking lot, put it in your car, while being called by that child names
> that would make most people blush, and drive home;
>
> 3. about 20 minutes later, a police car stops in front of your house, a
> policeman enters your house to look for potential child abuse, because
> someone at that parking lot made a report; then for the next 8 weeks you
> attend hearings at the state child welfare agency trying to prove that you
> did not abuse your child. Since you are a single working class mom, each
> of those hearings requires you take a day off from work, which has an
> impact on your already meager income. Even if you manage to get off the
> hook this time, the agency keeps a permanent record on you.
>
> Steps 1-3 repeat periodically in various settings, but the key elements
> (e.g. tantrums, aggression and other people witnessing it) are basically
> the same.
>
_________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com