Punishment That Graduated From Harvard

All the fun places I visited during my childhood were as a form of punishment. I know you’re confused but I’ll explain in a jiffy. I had a very funny childhood. Anytime my brothers and I sit down to talk about those days, we never complete our conversations because all we do it start one thing and laugh.

My mom used the normal African approach for punishing us. You know, the flogging and the kneel down and raise your hands things. My dad had a whole different approach. At first we thought my mom was more wicked until my dad started punishing us. In fact, anytime we were asked to write about our favourite parent, we didn’t hesitate to write 5 pages about daddy. Anytime we did something bad at home, my dad would tell my mom not to do anything to us.

He would then tell us to dress up for a fun day out. It didn’t make sense to my mom at first but it over made sense later because that changed us. This man would drive us to the recreational center, tell us to stay in the car while he goes to get us “tickets”, come back and tell us tickets are finished for stubborn kids so we have to to go back home. Eii, what do you mean?

It wasn’t just recreational centers. There was this day he drove us to the ice cream store, got ice cream for himself and his wife and then came back to say they said no ice cream for stubborn kids. What broke the camel’s back was when he stopped traveling with us in the name of “stubborn kids can’t come along”. He did that for months and nobody told us to do better.

As kids, it was just so painful to look through the car window to see our friends play at the center. It was very sad to see my parents enjoy those ice cream without us. My mom never had to touch us again because we changed. We all decided it was time to retire from our stubborn deeds, it was just too much for us.

This is why I believe corporal punishment does nothing to kids. It only instills pain and fear which only means that child might keep being stubborn but in your absence. In high school, I knew people who were “gangsters” anytime they went out but Hail Mary at home because of flogging.

Using my own childhood as an example, I know I wouldn’t want to be slapping, spanking or inflicting any physical pain on my kids. Just like my dad did to us, anytime my kids misbehave, I’ll make sure they get to see that PS5 but their hands will never touch. That Disneyland? They’ll go but right at the entrance, I’ll tell them; no tickets for stubborn kids.

If they still decide to be stubborn I’ll just return them to wherever they came from. Even better, to their Nigerian aunties,@hopestylist and @bipolar95.