Bill Radke
Bill is co-host of Seattle's Morning news, 5-9, on 97.3 KIRO FM. Bill is well known in the Northwest as a journalist, author, comedian, and talk show host. Radke started his career at KIRO as an intern in 1983. He recently returned home from Los Angeles.Conversation starters
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Bonneville Seattle is raising funds for the construction of a second Fisher House at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma and we need your help.To spank or not?
on July 2, 2012 @ 9:57 am (Updated: 11:12 am - 7/2/12 )A new study says people who were physically punished as kids were more likely to have mental or emotional problems.
It's not physical or sexual abuse or neglect, but things like slapping, shoving, or pushing that can cause serious damage to kids.
Bill says his initial reaction to the study is just to agree that spanking is probably not good.
"There is something to the idea of dad and mom get their way and prove that they're right because they're bigger than you and can hit harder than you."
But as heard on Seattle's Morning News, the study doesn't really point out the frequency. Bill, Kim, and Tom all agree that regular spanking or physical punishment might be more harmful than a rare swat on the rear.
Without getting too scientific, Tom also says he's skeptical of the study only because it doesn't point to a cause and effect.
That said, Tom thinks a study like this is good to get parents thinking about their methods for discipline. He personally thinks "that spanking is the failure of parenting. It's always out of my frustration."
Tom says in the rare occasion a spanking happened, he always realized later that he could have handled it better.
While Bill is determined not to spank his kids, he argues he was spanked as a kid and he turned out alright. He and his siblings were swatted for things like back talking, putting himself or others in danger, or picking on defenseless siblings.
Nowadays, parents seem to have more to hold over their kids' heads, things like Wii, Xbox, Kindle, and phones. But Bill wonders if there won't be a study soon suggesting that bribing our kids to behave well is lazy parenting and also does harm.
By Stephanie Klein, MyNorthwest.com Editor
Stephanie joined the MyNorthwest.com team in February 2008. She has built the site into a two-time National Edward R. Murrow Award winner (Best Radio Website 2010, 2012).
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