A trip to the mall or a day in hell?

Ever seen the “Problem Child” movies? Well, have you ever seen them played out in real life; while you’re in the mall trying to do some shopping? Unfortunately most of us have.

Does this sound familiar? While browsing through the racks of your favorite store, you notice a child, maybe around six years old, tagging along with his parent. At first, things seem to be normal, but as they approach you, you see a look on the child’s face that says “I don’t want to be hear and I’m about to make it known.” Before you even have time to consider walking away, the tantrum begins and you cannot help but watch.

Embarrassed, the mother tries to quietly calm the obnoxiously loud screams and flailing legs, quite unsuccessfully. Her next attempt is a threat to revoke his playtime privileges he was promised after their shopping trip. Still unsuccessful. Obviously flustered, the mother snatches the boy off the ground by the waist and you cannot wait to see what happens next. It’s like watching a movie. Where’s the popcorn?

But what will the mother do next? Will she: A. Give him a slap on the rear, B. Waive her finger in his face and say “No,” C. Simply ignore him and continue shopping, or D. All of the above?

Well this particular mother went with a combination of A and B. She gave him a quick tap on the bottom then shook her finger at him and delivered a stern “No.” Suddenly, the out-of-control young person, was a model citizen.

What would you have done? Would you have spanked your child? Should you spank your child?

The third is a question that has been asked over and over again, in case after case. But is there a real answer to this question? Probably not.

So here’s an answer for you: if a kid is acting up in the mall and will not give in to reasoning, there is nothing wrong with a minor spanking. A tap on the rear or slap on the hand, that is. When it crosses over to a smack across the face, a line should be drawn.

Why should we, as mall patrons, have to suffer because a parent decides to ignore their crying children to teach them their lesson? They shouldn’t. If you don’t want to spank your misbehaving offspring, then get them out of the mall because nobody wants to hear it, including mall workers.

Shemila Johnson, a mother and former mall worker, said she used to hate it when a child came into the mall “throwing a fit” and the parent just let the tantrum run its course.

“I never let my son act like that at home, so he would never get away with it in public,” said Johnson. The best way to deal with public disobedience, is to eliminate it at home.

Maybe malls should create a timeout area and play area in each store. The play areas would be for the well-behaved children, while the naughty children would be banished to the timeout area, where they would have to sit alone, in silence. That sounds pretty good, right? Any volunteers to pitch it to mall developers?

Or maybe, stores should hire a really tall person to dress up like the boogeyman and go around telling all the screaming children to quiet down, or else. Who wants to bet that there would be a lot less noise from these unhappy youngsters and a lot more smiling parents? Plus, it would create more job openings for the unemployed. Killing two birds with one stone is the best!

Allow 10-12 weeks for these changes to go into effect before enjoying hassle-free shopping trips.