For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 04, 2021

poor Gordon having a life like that

Michael did try to say no, but Gord wasn’t listening.

I see Elly still has the habit of throwing out her final barbs over her shoulder as she walks away. Someday I hope that when one of the characters does that, the recipient of the barb will say, “Sorry, Mom. Didn’t catch that. Can you turn around and repeat it to my face?”

Yep, the precursor I was talking about. Poor Gordon.

This is sad, but at least their butts aren’t portrayed like hers, my God!

Life lessons.

I was never ground, but then I never went out. Also, I would never drive by myself until I was 17 and went to my partime job. Did I miss something as a teenager?

He should be grounded at least a month. And they both should apologize to the Enos, and clean/replace anything broken.

There is a huge difference between hitting and spanking!!!!! I know some people who were verbally abused, and it affected them way worse than any well deserved ‘spanking’. One of my jr high students once told me that she wished ‘her parents loved her enough to spank her’. When I spanked my kids, I didn’t hit them, what they felt was my hand being hit by my other hand, but it was still effective. And all kids are different, one of my boys-the only thing that worked was a spanking, the other one, a good talking to was more effective. And once the ‘spanking’ is over, make sure that you hug them and let them know that you love them.

I had to go back a few strips but Mike did say no, Elly.

Gordon needn’t worry. From what I’ve read on this strip’s website, both his parents would probably be passed-out drunk.

My mother would have screamed at me and smacked me around, then dad would take the belt to me (buckle end first.) Being grounded is WAY better.

Good heavens! I didn’t know, from the original run, Gordon faced abuse at his home.

There were a couple of times when my Dad lost his temper and did ’ some things’ beyond spanking—had to tell friends I ‘walked into a door’ but then the last time, I struck back and as he was trying to hit me, I hit him. I felt awful(because after all he was my Father) but I gained his respect and we didn’t ‘do that anymore’. Till this day, I remember that and how bad I felt for doing it but it woke him up ! ! ! !

That’s… not funny.

in the 70’s that is what my mom would have done. That was simply how things were done. Glad it changed. I would have taken Michael’s tv and music too. Tell him for 2 weeks but give back after a few days if I feel he is repentant.

Apparently Elly doesn’t know Gordon is a victim of physical abuse (assuming the hits are more than a few swats across the butt which would be inappropriate for a teen anyway).

Lynn’s Comments:

This really raised a lot of questions from readers. I got calls from interviewers wanting to know where I was going with it and how much detail I was going to go into.

Ah yes. The good old days. …weren’t they?

I appreciate the serious topics you introduce. Thank you. Today’s went “Clang!” when I learned Gordo would have to face physical abuse. Once more your art brings me up short about the reality of other’s lives.

I can’t believe people are defending hitting children.

NO.

Right… children MUST be disciplined… they MUST be given boundaries, and taught respect.

But hitting doesn’t teach respect for other people or their property.

It only teaches respect for size and power, not for the behavior we say we want to encourage.

Hitting teaches that might makes right…. a concept dear to the so-called civilised world but NOT TRUE.

It makes people believe that the bigger, stronger person… or gun, or plane, or bullet or bomb …MUST be in the right.

It can’t teach children about love, judgement, respect, caring or other virtues we mouth…

it teaches about fear, hiding, retribution and war.

I never understood, even as a child, why bombing a country shows that we’re morally correct.

I asked but no one could explain.

And as a child who was physically punished, which I don’t usually talk about, as it’s far behind me…

Sure… I was very well behaved…

But I learned that “respect” comes from fear.

I learned hiding and lying and running away.

My own good nature was more subverted than encouraged by hitting…

whether you want to call it spanking or beating.

I learned love and respect later, by seeing it modeled, by people who practiced it… even my parents when they showed it in other situations..

but NOT from having it beaten into me.

Model kindness.

Model love and caring.

Explain and demonstrate the consequences of actions…

Assume there’s innate love and good nature in your children, not a desire to do evil.

You SAW Gordon say Elly’s silence was harder to take than being hit.

Use punishment appropriate to the crime… not a swat that shows only that you’re bigger and you say so.

Hitting people is non-explanatory and counterproductive.

Hitting people smaller than you is abuse.

70 years ago when I live in Allentown PA I had a Western Auto Doodlebug scooter. A popular neighbor had a basketball hoop/back board installed on a garage. Many teenagers gather to play basket ball. I rode over on my scooter. One kid took it for a ride to tease me. I went to his parent’s house nearby & told the kid’s mother that her son had taken my scooter for a joy ride. Her son was not of driving age or had a license. Never had a problem again with anyone taking the Doodlebug. Oh yes, my name is Gordon, & I rode the doodlebug to a shop, to buy my fist banjo, a 2nd hand tenor very much like the one I’m playing in this video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qLiLseBPXS2gdfVcQ_8TidXyVG_Vx1Di/view?usp=sharing

Hoping that Gordo is just speaking metaphorically/figuratively. To that sentence, I would add that they have to clean up and pay for all the damages to the car and the neighbors’ property. Also, they would have to wait at least 6 months past the dates they are eligible before they can get their learner’s permits. This gives them more time to think about their actions and the consequences.

Red alert! Red alert! Child abuse imminent in panel four! Call CPS (or whatever the acronym is in Canada).

After a quick scan of the replies here, i’m thankful that some of these commenters weren’t my parents!

So this arc becomes a story line about abusive parents?

My late stepfather was like that.

Gordon may wish he had mom or dad like Mike, sad what he goes through.

Most of us had lives like that in the 50’s.

I stick by my comment yesterday, that IF it were me, and IF I knew the kid’s abusive home life, I would NOT tell the parents. Why send him into possible danger? He’d be doing chores for me for a long time to come.

Spare the rod, spoil the child.

I went to school with a guy who had a similar home life to Gordon’s. Wiley’s dad finally drank himself to death, and his life got so much better. Until his 40’s when he had a heart attack and died. I cried when I heard the news.

Let’s hope Gordo doesn’t hit back!!!

The minute I saw the word “hits” in the final comments, I knew there would be a glut of responses. Not even gonna try to weigh in, as such. Cheers, folks…..

The violent will find any excuse. Near where I lived, some government school (i.e. public school) students ganged up and assaulted a young man who attended a Catholic preparatory school. They were found and arrested. When asked why they did that, they said “they had a real problem with the Catholic Church”, to include the sexual abuses cases, the Mafia, and the Irish Republican Army. When told how the student they beat up was never accused of sex abuse, not a Mafia member nor a suspected IRA terrorist (never having even set foot in Northern Ireland), they said he “a part of it” (the ol’ guilt by association accusation). There is no cure for stupidity.

At least when he and Tracy had their kids he never treated them the way his father treated him. The cycle can be broken.

If it was Brian, his punishment would be no “beach chicken” for dinner. For Lawrence, his punishment would be to have his Chippendales calendar confiscated.

If Gordon and Allyson ever have kids…and one of them, when he’s eight years old, accidentally sets the living room on fire…how should Gordon handle it?

TWO WEEKS! Come on! Nothing was damaged! Nobody got hurt! Geez! Why do comic strip moms have to be so unreasonably unforgiving?