So you're saying if you were watching my kids and they completely destroyed something of value I wouldn't have to pay for the cost to replace it?

37 - the other side of your point would be if you're watching them, they get hurt and need medical attention it wouldn't be the babysitters responsibility? However as a decent human I, parent of the child, would make the repairs or pay for it. As the baby sitter I would not demand repair.

Not all kids are shitbags. It depends on how good the parenting is. And for the record, you were a kid once too.

No, 19's right. All kids are shitbags at some point. For how long at a stretch and whether they grow out of it is largely up to parenting, but they ALL behave like demon spawn in the early years. And I'm sick of the "you were a kid once" argument. Yes, I was. Thankfully, I grew out of it and became an actual human being.

#44,If you are not sarcastic,please never have children. You better have met every kid in the world if you want to generalize all of them.

"Became an actual human being" so what when you were a kid you were an alien? A humanoid creature of sorts? I get some people don't like kids much, but to imply they are not actual humans is just ridiculous. You sound like a rather unpleasant person.

as a kid, i was the one hiding in the corner with my nose in a book. i was never a demon spawn...while i did have a rebellious stage, it only lasted about two months while i was 17 and consisted of using the internet when i wasn't allowed and getting home at 8(two hours past curfew O:) such demonry lol

You're a smart one.

Because their her kids therefore her response ability to take care of it.

You don't EVER hit children! You make them clean up the mess, or at least help do so. Spanking is nothing else than abuse. Use your language, explain to them what they've done wrong and, as I mentioned before, let them clear up the mess. Good thinking otherwise, regarding the responsability :)

Spanking is not abuse. That's why it's got a different name. Spanking consists of a smack on the bum aimed to cause a small amount of pain, but mainly to shock the child and make them fully aware that what they did was wrong. Both me and my sister were spanked as children and we both grew up to be respectful adults with a fantastic relationship with our parents. My Aunt and Uncle believed spanking was cruel and refused to ever do, and they have ended up with 3 of the loveliest brats i've ever met, who have no idea how to properly behave in polite society despite being teenagers, and one of whom has just buggered off to Thailand just to get away from her parents. I'm not saying either of those two situations are due to spanking, but it makes it fairly obvious that if it's not taken too far and remains sporadic and only for punishment spanking does not have an adverse affect, and also demonstrates that a lack of spanking does not always a happy child make. Also, whether or not you agree with spanking, it's sure as hell not up to you to dictate whether or not someone else spanks their child. It's none of your damn business so mind your own.

people like you ''never hit a kid'' are the reason idiot kids get their panties in a bunch and kill people when things suddenly dnt go their way like it has the last 15-20yrs of their lives. u make me sick. , proud parent of a well adjusted, straight A student without any behavior problems.

I agree with #66 and #68... Spanking is NOT abuse. My parents spanked me when I was young and that in particular never effed me up. However, they're asses in every sense of the word and are emotionally/verbally as well as physically abusive to me (I'm 18 and moving out ASAP). My dad shoved me into a wall just a few months ago and I landed on the corner of it; actually ended up getting muscular bruising and whiplash from it. They also smack my face, call me fat, etc. So, spanking didn't give me issues, but the REAL abuse has. :(

What rock did you crawl out from under? No one said abuse, they said whipped, I translate that to physical discipline, not beating and abuse. I was whipped as a child, when rarely needed, and my children, all of them (3 biological, 1 Step, 1 adopted, and 33 foster - makes 38 total), have received a whipping at some point, because "using my words" wasn't getting through their thick skulls! It is people like you, that have the best of intentions for abused children, that are the reason the Children's Protective Services are so overwhelmed with calls of abuse when in reality it was much needed and probably overdue physical discipline! If more people whipped unruly kids, I swear there would be less populated prisons; because undisciplined (physically or not) become horrible adults!

I am at least as exasperated by bad parents as you are (as a special educator, I have good reasons for it), but isn't that eugenics? Doesn't eugenics make you like Hitler? You don't want to be like Hitler, do you? :-P

It's nothing like eugenics. Eugenics is all about genes and deciding who can have babies based on desirable genetic traits. Obviously, no one can change their genetic code. However, anyone could get a parental license, provided they cleaned up their act and started acting like a responsible human being.

Agreed. I've been saying this for years.

If kids could be prevented by not having a licence, there'd be a lot less teen and unplanned pregnancy and all the sex people could want (minus effects of STDs).