S.C. editorial roundup: Nov. 30, 2018

Posted

Recent editorials from South Carolina newspapers:

The Times and Democrat

Nov. 27

Policy discourages the use of corporal punishment for kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the professional association of pediatricians, is taking a new and stronger stand against corporal punishment.

The new policy, "Effective Discipline to Raise Healthy Children," from the Council on Child Abuse and Neglect and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, is published in the December issue of Pediatrics magazine.

The new advice: Parents and other adult caregivers should use effective discipline strategies for children that do not involve spanking or other forms of corporal punishment or verbal shaming.

The policy summarizes new evidence published in the 20 years since the release of a 1998 clinical report on effective discipline, which discouraged the use of corporal punishment. Other AAP policies already call for the abolition of corporal punishment in schools and suggest the use of alternatives to corporal punishment to prevent child abuse.

According to Dr. Robert E. Sege, lead author of the new policy statement and a member of the former AAP Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, parents rely on pediatricians for advice on a variety of parenting matters, and most routine health care visits involve a discussion of child behavior and discipline. The new policy follows the opinions of the vast majority of U.S. pediatricians, who do not recommend corporal punishment.

The purpose of discipline is to teach children good behavior and support normal child development, Sege writes. "Effective discipline does so without the use of corporal punishment or verbal shaming."

The use of corporal punishment among U.S. parents has been declining during the 21st century. Young adults, regardless of race and ethnicity, are far less likely to endorse the use of corporal punishment than were parents in past generations.

Children who experience repeated use of corporal punishment tend to develop more aggressive behaviors, increased aggression in school and an increased risk of mental health disorders and cognitive problems, Sege says.

Sege says there are alternatives to spanking and pediatricians can help parents develop effective discipline strategies appropriate to the child's age, developmental status and other individual factors. Alternatives include taking toys and privileges and the age-old technique of timeout.

Whether to use alternatives only is what responsible parenting is about. Spanking remains an option, as corporal punishment is still lawful in the home in all states.

But spanking differs from violence against children, which is not legal.

The Post and Courier

Nov. 28

Costs of failing to fight, prep for climate change will be great

The broad takeaways from a lengthy new federal report on climate change aren't exactly shocking. The climate is changing, humans are a major factor in that change, and the consequences of failing to take action would be devastating.

But the specifics, and there are many in the fourth National Climate Assessment's several hundred pages, are deeply concerning.

Take, for example, this warning: "Without significant adaptation measures, many coastal cities in the Southeast are expected to experience daily high tide flooding by the end of the century."

Charleston got a preview of that scenario over the past few days.

A worst-case prediction suggests "two billion labor hours are projected to be lost annually by 2090 from the impacts of temperature extremes." The cost would be $160 billion in lost wages, mostly in the South.

Southeastern cities face damage to infrastructure and threats to human health, a dramatically increased risk from flooding, loss of critical ecosystems and biodiversity and further hardships for rural communities that depend on agriculture.

Some of the costs related to climate change are difficult to put into monetary terms. Quality of life, livability and a healthy environment are in many ways priceless.

But other climate-related impacts, like lost productivity, heat-related deaths, property loss, infrastructure damage and increased health care costs, are indeed measurable. And federal scientists put the total economic cost of unchecked climate change at more than $500 billion per year by the end of the century.

In other words, it is irresponsible and unscientific to suggest that preventing, mitigating and preparing for climate change is too expensive. On the contrary, doing nothing would be devastating.

Much of the coverage of this most recent climate report focuses on the Trump administration's decision to release it on Black Friday, a busy shopping day in which many people in the United States are off work, spending time with family or doing just about anything other than reading about climate change.

It's possible that decision was simply a coincidence. Certainly, if the intention was to downplay the report's significance or reduce media coverage, the effort failed.

President Trump has nevertheless made it clear that he doesn't find the new data alarming.

"I don't believe it," he said, when asked about the report's assertion that the economic impacts of climate change would be devastating.

Mr. Trump rightly pointed out that other major polluters will have to take significant action as well to stop climate change, which is an inherently global problem.

A recent report from the United Nations found that most of the world's wealthiest countries are behind on their climate goals.

And the United States, which remains the world's second-worst greenhouse gas emitter behind China, has a long way to go.

Contrary to Mr. Trump's protestations, fighting climate change and preparing for its impacts don't have to be economically painful.

Efforts to prevent flooding, for example, provide significant economic benefits now in addition to helping cities prepare for a future of higher sea levels and stronger storms. Charleston in particular is well aware of the costs of decades of insufficient action.

Adopting utility-scale solar power - an area in which South Carolina has lagged - can be more cost-effective as a new source of electricity generation than dirtier technologies like coal and natural gas.

Planting trees, using more efficient light bulbs, carrying groceries in reusable bags, driving less and making dozens of other affordable personal and community-scale choices add up to make significant changes that are likely to be a net benefit to the economy rather than a negative.

Besides, as this recent climate report makes abundantly clear, the costs of doing nothing are almost certainly greater than any expenses associated with becoming a more sustainable, resilient society. And that's likely to be the case, whether our leaders choose to believe it or not.