Children should be seen and not heard, and those who are heard are inevitably young limbs of Satan up to mischief, and should be given a dozen of the best with a birch rod. Unfortunately, some people with more sentiment than common sense — to wit, psychologists and social workers and other professional do-gooders — are adamant that hitting children is bad for them. They claim that it causes emotional damage; destroys one of the most precious relationships, that between a parent and a child; and turns the little brat into a raving sadist who spends his life inflicting similar injuries on anyone unfortunate enough to be in a weaker position. This is arrant nonsense. “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” A child who is not soundly thrashed will inevitably turn into a puling milquetoast, a namb