Beatings and good health

The Czech government's idea of banning corporal punishment could have some serious unforeseen side effects. First is the issue of the traditional Easter "pomlázka," when the boys take a braided whip and show their affection by flogging the girls. Surely this would have to fall by the wayside, inflicting unintended emotional scars on all those who consider it their right to whip or be whipped once a year. Second is the issue of child obesity. Comedian Bill Cosby noticed that since people stopped beating their children in America, kids have been getting chubbier and chubbier. It seems that when a child expects a beating, the little brat tends to run, something that fewer and fewer couch-potato children are doing these days. It's just as good for the beatee as for the beater, Cosby noticed, because going through the beating motions works up the cardiovascular system. So if the government wants to ban beatings, it's going to have to count on a general decline in the nation's health. [Czech Republic fat]