Appreciated strict parents

Dear Editor,

A major "thank you" to Gloria Masoner for putting into words what so many think but are afraid to say -- and for the same reasons she states in her piece. ["When the government goes too far" (http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1186832.html)]

I, too, was raised by strict parents -- and I thank God for it regularly. My parents corrected us in a variety of ways. The saying was, 'the punishment should fit the crime' ... and spanking was the thing that suited really objectionable behavior.

I adored my parents -- still do, though one is currently in heaven. I would hate to have had today's standards applied to my childhood life. I would have been removed from a most loving family and placed into foster care -- to possibly never see my parents or siblings again. What a consequence of good parenting.

Thanks again, Gloria. Here's hoping that common sense shows its face again in America.

Geri Harper,

via e-mail