JORDAN RIAK, Letters, articles, etc.
Also see files linked from Reports to Friends, some of which are Riak's writing.

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  1. Plain Talk about Spanking, 2011 Edition

  2. Letter to the Editor of the Rockford Register Star re: youth violence, September 10, 2010

  3. Teachers out of their element, April 19, 2009

  4. Reply to a spanker, April 19, 2007

  5. Message to Project NoSpank's List Members re: spanking study, June 30, 2002

  6. Letter to the Missouri Legislature re: House Bill No. 1083, December 26, 2001

  7. Facing Down a Drill Sergeant Dad, December 6, 2001

  8. Letter to a supporter of boot camps and wilderness programs, August 20, 2001

  9. Weasel Words Don't Protect Children--An analysis of Minnesota's pseudo-definition of child abuse, November 2000

  10. Ask Ten Spankers, November 2001, Revised April 2006

  11. Responses to the American Academy of Pediatric's "The Short and Long term Consequences of Corporal Punishment," (Pediatrics Volume 98, No 4, October 1996-Supplement) and Dr. Diana Baumrind's statement quoted in the article These letters were originally sent to the Office for Studies for Moral Development and Character Formation, MORALCHR@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU on May 31, 2000 and June 3, 2000.

  12. Spare the rod and spoil the moral zealot, Correspondence of June 16, 17, & 19, 2000
    A lesson in moral character.

  13. Criticism of E.B.'s letter and Riak's response to the critic, June 27, 2000.

  14. How to Prevent Violent Criminal Behavior in the Next Generation

  15. SCHOOL UNIFORMS: Seeing Schoolchildren as Canned Sardines

  16. Sin of Omission

  17. A skeptical view of the child-fixing industry

  18. DRIVE DRUNK RESPONSIBLY, April 9, 1998

  19. Spanking, Lead Based Paint & Other Familiar Household Toxins
    Written for the Evansville Courier, Feb. 1998.

  20. The Debate on Spanking is Closed
    Revised and expanded version of "Spanking and hitting are perilous," which appeared in The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, September 1997.

  21. A letter of criticism to Professor Barton D. Schmitt, M.D., F.A.A.P., professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and director of both General Consultative Services and the Pediatric Call Center at the Children's Hospital of Denver, September 22, 1998

  22. If You Chastise Your Wife, Read This
    Originally published on 9/16/95 as "An Open Letter to Northbay Healthcare System and the Editors of Wellspring".

  23. Corporal Punishment in Schools Must End
    From The New York Times, letters column, January 11, 1989.

  24. Cane canned
    From The Torch, 'Letters to the Editor' section, Sydney, New South Wales, Austraila, January 14, 1987.

  25. Sorry, No Sweet Talk for Baby-Shakers
    Two letters--a request to Riak for advice and his reply

  26. An Open Letter to Catholic Educators in Australia and New Zealand
    By Jordan Riak and J. M. Wright, Published in The Catholic Weekly, June 21, 1981, Australia, followed by "MEMO TO STAFF" from Brother McIntosh (who was "not impressed" with PTAVE)--a memorandum from the school administration to the teachers at a Catholic boys' school in a Sydney suburb, April 15, 1981.

  27. Aggressive Denial: Correspondence between Riak and Jill
    I always marvel at how people can, on the one hand, say they disapprove of spanking, but on the other, seem compelled to distance themselves from any effort to stop it. They seem to have an inexhaustible supply of reasons why this is not their issue, why it is not an issue at this time, or in this place, or why other issues must take precedence. I struggle to understand those arguments. Perhaps the spanking debate triggers painful, unresolved guilt about their own feelings and/or behaviors toward children. Perhaps it subjects their loyalty to their parents, who were spankers, to an intolerable test, or threatens to strain fragile social arrangements with family members, friends or colleagues who are, or might be, spankers. Perhaps economic or political considerations compel them to sidestep this thorny issue. This much is certain, and well illustrated, I believe, by this correspondence with Jill: they take the matter personally, as though someone were pushing them toward deep water and their desperation is palpable. Of course, my attempts to enlist the support of such people are doomed from the start. Engaging them at any level in productive dialogue on strategies to curb or end corporal punishment is like trying to coax a jellyfish into a spoon.

  28. Letter of October 27, 1997 to Governor Bush

  29. Where Oh Where Does the Money Go?
    A quick, close-up look at phony child-protection law, wily politicians and how politically-correct campaigns aimed at children's needs spring into existence upon the availability of funding, then vanish just as quickly when the last dollar is spent.

  30. Letter to The Tennessean
    A response to Deborah Mathis' pro-corporal punishment article of August 22, 1997, "Perils of sparing the rod can be ominous."

  31. Parents Ask Advice
    Riak's letter to the President and Mrs. Clinton asking their advice about how to protect one's child from being beaten by a teacher or a school principal. They quickly toss this hot potato to subordinates who, following the example of their betters, toss it to their subordinates, and so on. Read this file for an interesting journey through a modern, real-life equivalent of Alice's Wonderland.

  32. Three Girls and Their Dolls

  33. How to Settle the School Corporal Punishment Controversy
    Overnight, Completely and for All Time

  34. Montana: Three angry letters about abuse in the classroom and its coverup
    1) Riak's letter of September 28, 1989 to Governor Stan Stephens,
    2) Response to Riak from Marc Racicot, Attorney General of Montana and
    3) A threatening letter to Riak from Chronister, Driscol & Moreen, Attorneys at Law, Helena, Montana

  35. Letter to the legislature of Tennessee opposing Senator Pete Springer's SB 2154, a bill designed to make Tennessee safe for child abusers.

  36. Shielding the Perpetrator, Blaming the Victim
    A letter to the Grant Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees about dangerously abusive, illegal practices in their schools.

  37. Letter of Protest--Dover Heights Boys High School, (Australia, 1975)

  38. Personal scrapbook
    Father steals cane as a protest (260KB graphic)
    HANDS OFF! (226KB graphic)
    California corporal punishment ban support editorial, By Caroline Wean, Vice President and General Manager of KPIX-TV, 1985 (Allow download time for audio.)
    Successfully battled corporal punishment in California (161KB graphic)
    San Ramon Valley Times Clipping(7-3-94): "Opposes spanking in schools and at home;" recent photo--1999 (217 KB and 29KB graphics, respectively)


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