Oh please - get a grip!

One of my closest real-life friends posted this as their status update on Facebook today... (pasted here as it was written - bad grammar/punctuation, an' everything!)

"RIP Broken Britain.. You went soft on discipline!.. You went soft on immigration!You went soft on crime.. Parents were told.. 'No you can't smack the kids'....Teachers were prevented from chastising kids in schools.. The police couldn't clip a troublemaker round the ear.. Kids had rights blah blah blah.. Well done Britain..You shall reap what you sow.. We have lost a whole generation. ­Repost if you agree with this."

Note the bit about re-posting if in agreement.

My response was thus...

"Sorry, I cannot agree about smacking children. I don't believe it's ever acceptable to use physical violence against another, especially not a child. Even 'just a smack' can cause trauma, both physical and mental. Why would anyone want to cause harm to someone they love? 

As a former teacher, I can tell you that punishment *is* allowed in schools, just not corporal punishment. 

Beating/slapping/smacking another human being (or animal, for that matter) is *not* the way to make them compliant and obedient....but it's a sure way to make them discontented and feel undervalued and worthless.....and we all know where that leads. 

We should lead by example; therefore, what example are we setting people if we punish them with physical violence? That it's acceptable to be violent when someone does not do as you tell them to do? 

There is no one cause for the current situation, just as there is no one area/body of people to blame. 

We *all* have to shoulder the responsibility of making and breaking society. And let's not forget that it is we who vote in the people who make the laws so many complain about."

The thread got deleted.

Clearly some people are just happy to jump on the bandwagon and mindlessly re-post Daily HateMail-esque drivel but cannot cope when someone posts something intelligent in response. What irks me however, is that if it were face to face, this person would never agree with the original comment....or perhaps they'd just tell me what they thought I want to hear.

Why are some folk such sheeple?