Discipline

Credits: The Queensland Figaro

Cartoon image of corporal punishment. I was a bit surprised to find that a few states still allow this in schools.

Chatty and I got into a discussion about corporal punishment. Yes, most of my novels use that for discipline because I’m trying to stick with the era in which the story occurred. However, I try to have a character that defers to other methods in all my stories. In, Prince Robert’s Reign, Arterus uses what Robert calls boring lectures and at times prefers the man just whip him and get it over with. In Dacian Wildcat, Panos, for the most part, uses other methods. The stark contrast between him and Darius was intentional. Castor shares many of his uncle’s personality traits, but what kind of man does he want to become? In the Little Series, Henry isn’t opposed to a good spanking when needed, but he knows that’s not what Gabriel needs to heal with the trauma he’s already been dealt in life. Below is an excerpt from the conversation while working to get Ethan’s Journey Home ready for publication under Piney Haven Heritage.

Me: Thank you. I hadn't thought of an author's note. That is a great idea. Yes, the narrative switch was very much intentional. I couldn't tell the middle part like I wanted to from first person. The corporal punishment is, unfortunately, what occurred then. It wouldn't sound authentic to give the kid a time-out, although, I tried to have Spencer deal with behaviors differently and try to be supportive. But yes, I'll market it as YA due to more mature content.

Chatty: That makes complete sense. The corporal punishment reads as historically grounded rather than gratuitous, especially because you don’t present it as “good parenting.” Spencer is very much a man of his time, but you also show him thinking, adjusting, negotiating, investigating, and eventually trying to understand Ethan instead of only controlling him. That matters.