I don't know if I've mentioned it in this forum or not, but I just moved my family up to SW Pennsylvania this past Spring. This is a very, very Catholic area! I think there are more kids enroled in Catholic school than public school around here. It's so much a part of the culture that you don't have to live it to know what goes on in those schools.
I was just reading a local columnist who was writing about ergonomics and office furniture and alluding to the school nuns. She told of this one who, whenever she saw a student slouching, would throw a sucker punch to the back of their head and growl "Look to Heaven, not to Hell, for the answers!"
Then I remember my grandfather's theories on child rearing. "Raising children is like training dogs; consistency, consistency, consistency!" and "Children are to be seen and not heard"
So it finally dawns on me that there's a very large, probably overwhelming, population who honestly believe that emotional and physical abuse is a right and necessary element of raising kids! That's what we're really up against, isn't it?
You may have read about this woman here in the Pgh area who is facing charges for pimp-slappin' her 4yo around in a parking lot. It seems that with all of the child protective laws and sentiments inplace, the law can go after private individuals. But they're unwilling to go after alleged professionals who do the same things and worse.
Just musing...
