Perhaps you recall the case of Andrea Yates? In 2021, she drowned her five children.

Their crime? Sin — or potential sin. Ms. Yates believed that sin in the lives of her children would send them to hell. She killed them to save them.

Nuts? Of course. But you must understand that the religious influences in her life impacted what was obviously pre-existing psychotic tendencies. How do you cure sin? How do you stop deviancy (if that is, indeed, what it is)?

Corporal punishment is prevalent in the U.S. Some years back, the Child Family Psychology Review gave these statistics in 1999: 35% of infants and 94% of children ages 3 and 4 were subjected to physical punishment.

“Despite rapid decline after age 5, just over half of American parents hit children at age 12, a third at age 14, and 13% at age 17,” the study said.

How about now? The Journal of Child and Family Studies found that 37% of children were subject to corporal punishment in 2019. A few years earlier, Brookings found 81% of U.S. parents approved of corporal punishment to some degree.

In one study of child abuse-related homicides precipitated by a caregiver’s use of harsh physical punishment, it was found that 4% of children were killed from harsh physical punishment.

Who uses corporal punishment on their kids? Six out of 10 parents learned it from their parents and believe it is useful (Contemporary Pediatrics). A Pepperdine University study found that conservative Protestant and fundamentalist parents were more likely to use corporal punishment.

Mostly, research indicates that parents use it because they believe it works, which brings me to my current concern.

I am speaking of laws requiring schools to “out” kids who are questioning their gender identification. Also, the outing by churches, teachers, etc. of LGBTQ+ kids in general. I think it is a very bad idea.

We know politically and religiously conservative parents take a dim view of queer folk. This is true of the GOP in general, which is promoting laws about outing queer kids to fuel their base, according to a PBS News Hour report. The protests against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and their rights are on the rise, according to The Economist.

The majority of Americans? One can find support for same sex marriage, for example, from as many as 70% of the population. So, why worry about this small group of anti-queer folks? Because of the kids.

My dad was born in 1909. I am a product of his second marriage. I became a teenager in the ’60s.

All in all, my dad was a good man – and I love him. But I remember slaps across the face, whacks with his belt, and generally violent reactions to what he deemed my misbehavior. I think my half-siblings were even more on the receiving end.

Why? No doubt, he was raised that way. He truly believed that it would change my behavior. It didn’t.

I don’t think that was unusual behavior for folks of his age. And I got some of the same from the administration at my school. It just resulted in my hating school.

My friend (a very conservative friend and a dear one too), caught his teenaged son having sex and wailed the tar out of him. Do you really think that stopped him? I have my doubts, and I believe that physical punishment is useless, except in producing resentment.

So, here is the scenario. The school outs the queer child to a parent predisposed to using violence on his children. What will prevent that parent from trying to “beat the queer” out of the kid?

It’s happened. Just do a Google search. Tragically, you’ll find lots of instances. For example: “Mother in court charged with beating daughter for being gay.” And worse has happened: “Mother Arrested After Shooting, Killing Daughter and Trans Son.”

So, what then? Kids need someone they can trust that they can talk to without fear. It may or may not be the parent.

Might a counselor help? Maybe. As long as they do not practice thoroughly discredited conversion therapy.

They need to talk. Outing them is a very bad idea. It is a very poor policy decision.