From Eero Nevalainen, January 27, 1999

All corporal punishment of all people, including children, is banned by law here in Finland. Of course this does not mean that kids would not get spanked at all, but the general attitude of the society is that parents start spanking when they lack the intelligence to use some alternative method. A spanking parent is considered a bad parent - beating kids to compliance is a thing of the past.

What really got me started was the use of corporal punishment in education. I lack the words to describe how I feel about it. Plain disgusting! I couldn't even imagine before that this could happen in the USA that I consider a civilized country most of the time, attitude towards capital punishment being one of the few exceptions to the rule. Here a teacher can get in serious trouble if he/she ever even touches a pupil against his/her will. Corporal punishment in schools is unthinkable, particularly in the sense that was described in the story of the girl who got "disciplined" in high school.

I am sure that I am not the only person in this part of the world who feels like this. I just want you to know that I respect and admire your work to reduce brutality. We're entering the 21st century - in my opinion, nobody should even be discussing this topic anymore - the answer should be too clear to be debated over.