Received December 11, 1997

Jimmy Dunne reports on the 'Gayle King Show'

The show was titled, "How to Discipline Your Child." It began with a horrific videotape of Thomas Tillman, a black man, who was whipping his sons ages 16 and 9 with their hands tied and their pants pulled down. He was holding both ends of a wet belt. They were lying on the floor and struggling as they were being hit. The mother and a sister were watching. He said they had been videotaping karaoke performances. Tillman received 5-years in the Orient Road Jail, Tampa, FL where he was interviewed live on TV. He said he did not hurt the boys and they went fishing afterwards.

The rest of the show was an interview with Dr Ruth Peters, author of "Don't Be Afraid to Discipline." She suggests a pop on the bottom of a diapered child is OK but only if it works, if it doesn't, it's inappropriate.

Her suggestions:
Sending teenagers to the bathroom for a couple of hours but remove the razor blades & pills first. (Teens hate boredom)
Taking away electrical & battery toys.
Giving toys to Goodwill if bad behavior continues.
Taking away keys to car.

We could probably send letters to Tillman c/o the jail.