The post you are reporting:
I agree with the piece by DC, but all it seems to do is highlight no more than we already know. We do seem to be developing dysfunctional elements within our society, but that is just society evolving. Yes maybe this is not the way we would like but we must address current problems with solutions that are up to date, not just revert back to the past. I know so many people with the 'it never did me any harm' attitude and this may be true, but it's no longer 1954 and physically punishing young people would probably have the opposite effect in our current situation.
Many people (young and old) have indeed forgotten, or don't know, what is good, bad, right and wrong. This is of course down to their engagement with society (family, education etc) but then these ideas are really hard to conceptualise as they rely on a consensus of views. We can all talk about ethics and morality, but these are the product of a collective consciousness, not the other way around. Righteousness was easy to teach all the time everybody believed in a god, but making sense of why to do the 'right thing' in an age of masses of information, concerned with fact rather than belief is slightly harder. Bringing individualist attitudes into the equation and shared elements of existence (both physical and spiritual) and ethics have less and less meaning.
I do however believe that humans have evolved because of an innate sense of synergy, understanding that more is achieved in groups than as individuals. Even babies have a desire to please others and have achievements recognised. Even the most disruptive of young people, from the toughest of personal backgrounds display this trait. The fact is many of them are already the product of physical discipline and a quick 'birching' would have little or no effect. Corporal punishment does no more than confuse the idea of morality, punishing wrong with wrong.
I'm not saying this whole positive discipline is any good, because it isn't, but caning, smacking and birching is just like the way they train mice to negotiate mazes by giving them an electric shock when they go wrong. What humans possess that mice and animals do not is Reason and this is what should be exploited. People should do the right thing because it is the righteous thing to do, not because they are scared of the consequence, teaching this is far harder. Of course this requires far more commitment and I noticed this a couple of days ago in town: queuing in a shop my son (3) was trying touch some food in a display cabinet I had to move his hand and tell him that it wasn't his, and we weren't buying it and so it wasn't ours to touch, and if he kept touching it he would have to home early. The woman in front had the same problem seconds later and just slapped the hand of her child, which at face value, instantly had the same effect as my minute monologue. Physical punishment is just an easy option and we really do have a problem with society if we lose the ability to reason.
The IDS report is a piece of rhetoric that misses so many issues, presenting an oversimplified and frankly, at times patronising, view of society. And remember everyone "there's no such thing as society" (I know you think I do a disservice to Mrs. T using this Barry, but it really is a quote about individualism, denying the importance of shared values)
Sorry if this all a little 'pretentious' but it's hard to talk about this sort of stuff without getting a little esoteric.