I'm going to change the world

Over in my triathlon website, an Ann Coulter discussion eventually devolved into a discussion of spanking, spurred on by a mention of the despicable Rev. James Dobson (lord how i despise that man). I'm no fan of spanking. I think that inflicting pain upon a defenseless child just so you can lord over them is lazy parenting at best, and out-and-out abusive at worst.

But in the discussion, a poster said the following:

"Listen, I make my v(olleyball) ball players who I coach do push ups as a penalty. They HATE it. It is painful for them. But they learn quickly to avoid those mistakes which are punishable by push ups."

And it got me thinking. What if parents, instead of spanking or even time-outing, used push-ups as punishment instead? How would the world be different? If your views of spanking are similar to mine, there'd arguably be a whole lot more happy, well-adjusted kids running around. But even if spanking really isn't harmful per se, you could easily make the argument that it does kids no inherent good.

So, what if, every time Nola did something she wasn't supposed to, she was made to do something that was actually good for her? Look around--kids today are fat and lazy. If you spank them, they more than likely can barely feel it because the blows are cushioned by their fat asses. And time out? Please. They're already doing nothing but sit on the couch playing Xbox. You really think more nothing is going to teach them anything?

But push ups. Push ups suck. They hurt like crazy, they make you strain, breathe hard and sweat. Nobody likes to do them. And...they're actually good for you! They strengthen your core, work a whole host of muscles including your chest, biceps and triceps, lats and traps.

Johnny hits his sister? 50 push ups! Susie's late getting home from school? 10! Didn't finish your homework? Give me 20, young man! If your kids are really bad, think of what great shape they'll be in, at least. And seriously, I think that after a few hundred push ups, the kid is going to think twice about taking that $20 out of mom's wallet.

Of course, as with anything, there could be a downside. There's the risk in using exercise as punishment that kids could form an aversion to it (after all, isn't that what I'm talking about?). But that's why I like the idea of push ups. If you instead had Sheniqua run a mile, she would probably associate running with bad. And I don't like that. Running should be something kids love to do. But push ups on the other hand are *supposed* to be despised, and it's OK if they are. After all, no one gets a college scholarship for calisthenics.

So who's with me? Who wants to change the world, 20 push ups at a time?