Is Pearl Responsible for Children's Deaths?
In 2010, 7-year-old Lydia Schatz was found dead after her parents, Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz, whipped her for hours -- with pauses for prayer. The Schatzes are now serving time in prison. Kevin Schatz was convicted of second degree murder, and Elizabeth was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.
Christian fundamentalist pastor Michael Pearl's controversial book,"To Train Up a Child," was found in the Schatz home. In his book, Pearl claims that God wants you to spank your kids. The district attorney in the Schatz case said Pearl's book was often read and passages were underlined.
Anderson asks Pearl,"Do you believe you have any responsibility here for what these other families did?"
"Absolutely not," says Pearl."My responsibility is to keep families from abusing their children. There are about 170 children every year killed by their parents through abuse or neglect. Out of every 75 children, our book is in the home of one of those homes (sic)."
How does this make you feel? Do you think Pearl has any responsibility in the Schatz child's death, and others you learned about on today's show?
Do you believe in Pearl's principles for parenting?
Is spanking an acceptable form of discipline? When does spanking cross the line to become abuse? Continue the conversation.
Comments
Pearl is definately morally culpable for his sick ideas on parenting. The goal of any good parent is to teach a child to develop internalized self control. All children make mistakes, which should be viewed as an opportunity for learning. Parents are the adults who need to lead by example. When a child is repeatedly assaulted for what is normal childhood behavior, they learn to problem solve with these same inappropriate behaviors. We should not wonder why there is so much violence in urban communities where teens solve their problems with a gun! A healthy parent-child relationship should be based on trust. Would we expect any child to trust a parent who regularly hurts them? Pearl's goal is to control children. I know from both personal experience and 32 years of professional experience that it is completely unrealistic to totally dominate or control anyone. In the short term a spanking may curb the immediate behavior; however, in the BIG PICTURE the long term effect is that a child will learn to hate their abuser and likely will repeat the cycle. As a culture, we fail to see the BIG PICTURE and want an immediate result. Children are a long term investment! Unfortunately, there is no prerequesite for becoming a parent. I pray Pearl is silenced by the outrage rational thinkers have expressed on your show. I fear there are ignorant people who will blindly follow him in the pretext of godliness!
He that answers a matter before he hears it, to him it is a folly and shame. Mr. Anderson you were the cause of a lot of folly and shame amongst your viewers during this interview, simply because you did not allow Mr. Pearl to share his views. You did not let the man speak. Why have him on the show, to publicly la***** him and provoke your audience to do the same? I thought talk shows were about allowing people to share and express their views, but only after hearing the truth of the matter, which the talk show host is responsible for ensuring takes place. It was very evident that Mr. Anderson did not want to hear what this man had to say. I am very curious about the number of people who have been mislead by this talk show and others like it simply because they do not take the time to 'listen' to the whole story. Come on, the man said he does not condone abuse and I have read his book, he DOES NOT condone physical abuse. NO WHERE in his book does he condone abuse. I am sorry the parents will have to be responsible for these deaths not Mr. Pearl. Discipline and abuse are two ENTIRELY DIFFERENT things. Psychology unfortunately has take common sense out of the picture today. Mr. Pearl's children are a testament and proof that this man is sane and in his right mind. We could learn a great deal from him and many others like him, but we would have to listen first.
ive read Mr. Pearl's book and applied the principles he advocates and if you read the whole book and consider all of his counsel you will understand that Mr. Pearl is NOT suggesting spanking every day for every offense and until the child is eighteen. Spankings are administered RARELY and for a few years, for training. I thought Mr. Pearl responded well to the intense pressure of having the entire studio audience against him without having read the book, or having only read exerpts and not taking the whole of his message and applying it. All the facts are needed before you can rush to judgement, it would appear though, that these children were victims of
parents who were NOT following the counsel ~I~ encountered in Mr. Peatl's book.
I am praying for your son who has the DISEASE of ADDICTION, this disease has a genetic component and it is not from lack of discipline. Your son I believe never said "When I grow up I want to be incarcerated, I want to be an addict and die young from Hep C"...no he did not. I pray for all the sick and suffering each day. You did nothing wrong....your son has a horrible disease that is ruining his life. Your other 2 children do not have this disease. Love him.
Pearl is advocating corporal punishment for BABIES...dear God in heaven! Primarily he is male which says the most in this case. I have witnessed many new fathers interact with their new borns with frustration and anger, while new mothers have a protection response built into their DNA...utlizing patience and tenderness in the face of frustration. My response was one of repulsion towards Pearl. His eyes and demeanor were cold and I did not learn anything from his BS.
I posted previously , I don't agree with Michael Pearls teachings at all, just in case it came across that way. I think its the parents discretion , and yes I was spanked as a kid, but not so that it hurt. It didn't scare or hurt me, I don't think parents should try to hurt their kids ... that is abuse and thats what it sounds like he is teaching. Although I haven't read the book, from watching the show and reading portions of the book online. I don't like that people assume if your spanked your deprived emotionally or your parent*****e you or you want to kill people... Or that you have a mental disorder or will get one. It made me a stronger person and I can't love my parents more than what I do for them molding me into the person I am. Yes my parents weren't perfect but they did what they thought was the best way to raise me. And its not like I was spanked often or they enjoyed it either. Just to clarify = )
I do not agree with the teachings of spanking a child, I mean use common sense, if you were to spank your child because they dislike something and were to say they didn't like it, its not going to change their view, as a nurse, I would think its going to hurt the child's self esteem which could possibly lead to mental disorders such as pessimism, Depression, or anxiety disorders, if you were to continue to inflict pain on them. children have rights as well as adults they apply for everyone who is a US citizen. The message as stupid as it may seem to some, is just be social with your children, talk to your child every time they do something wrong and\or just let the child know they are loved and you care about them. In life, interaction and encouragement is the way, not abuse.
I watched the show with Michael Pearl and it made me sick. I have two children, my son is 30yrs and my daughter is 21yrs(same dad). I never hit my son once, and I only smacked my daughter in the arm when she was 14yrs old, and that was after she argued with me for over 1 1/2 hrs and wouldn.t stop. My children are very responsible adults and have never been in trouble ever. My daughter says that people who hit their children are lazy and don't want to teach them right from wrong or explain things to them, I agree. Thanks
I just have to say watching the show made me mad at the people who were talking against Mr. Pearl, they looked stupid from my point of few. I have no kids but am in my 20ies and was spanked as a child with a belt, ruler, wooden spoons. My parents did not come into my room " cold and calculating" They would send me to my room, come in after I had time to think about what I had done, they would tell me why what I did was wrong, why they had to discipline me for it, then they would spank me. We would BOTH cry afterwards, hug and they would tell me they loved me and that was it. I am so thankful that they did, I don't know where I would be right now if I didn't have a HEALTHY respect and fear of authorities. They had to give me a consquence that scared me enough to not want to break the rules, or I would break the rules and not care what happened. I actually, when my dad said I was grounded when I was little.. asked if he could spank me instead so I could go out and play. So I was obviously not abused, or scared of them. There is a fine line and some people cross it. But not every child that is spanked is abused or turns out to be an abuser.. I took offense to that !!
My life long impression of Bible thumpers from the south is that they are for the most part "nuts". But this Mr. Pearl, from what little I know about him, from Anderson's TV program is a very wise man. I wished I would have read his book when my first child was born. We tried the Dr. Spock method with him(no spanking). Well, he is 30 years old and right now is in jail, is a drug addict, and has Hepatitis C from drug use, which is usually fatal. In our case the Bible was correct when it says " Spare the rod, spoil the child". We have two other sons which were spanked as kids and one just graduated from college and the other works for me. Both are good kids. I do believe that some children within a family have different types of personalities and need different types of discipline. Some need strong discipline and others just a stern look will get their attention. Wish I had known this 30 years ago.
I read "To Train up a child" about 10 years ago, and get NGJ newsletters, and attend the Church at Cane Creek. Definitly do not recall a beastiality test. I do seem to remember a story about a family in the area where he lives have to be confronted about their childrens statements concerning sex with animals.
Krya,
I am not a woman and thus have never nursed a child. But over the past decade + I have watched my wife nurse 7 children and she never tollerated being gnawed on.
Do you have any practical advice on how to sit there and take it.
What is your combined nursing experience?
And Linda, he is a hick preacher who knows nothing about raising children. He's a nutty mountain man. He has no credentials, pokes fun at child psychology, and knows very little about normal child development. For anyone who needs convincing of his abhorrent attitude towards even very small children, just go read his "Infant Manifesto".
Jerking a baby from the breast is a violent act, but pulling hair is not?! For the mother, maybe!
I was totally shocked at the disrespect Mr. Pearl received (as a guest?!?!?) from Mr. Cooper. It was definately a "show" that was staged to make him look like a "hick preacher" that doesn't know anything about raising children. I, myself have seen enough untrained and undisciplined children in the world to know that they aren't a pretty sight. Going to town can be almost depressing to see all the loud, unruly and demanding children, not to mention the parents trying to keep up with them and yelling at them. I'm concerned for the safety of my own children because of others who have not been taught to respect other people and rules and laws. Thank you Mr. Pearl for your courage and the time and energy you put into the work you are called to.