Jen: Yeah, but when you read about random beatdowns and thefts, you forget that.
Charles: The research says you've got to be careful about corporal punishment, because it can teach kids that violence is a solution, and it's not.
Jen: True, but old-fashioned corporal punishment worked for a lot of us. My dad didn't think anything of taking a swipe at me if I messed up.
Charles: I've got to put on my social-science hat and say what you're trying to do is isolate a variable.
Jen: Keep it plain, Doc.
Charles: What are they really missing? Positive role models. The black family is in worse shape than it has ever been . . . because family today is an option. It wasn't in the past. You've got baby mamas, baby dads, kids raising themselves. I'm driving home at night at 1 o'clock in the morning from doing what young adults do and I've got 9-, 10-, 11-year-olds cutting me off on a bike or just walking. "Where the hell are you coming from? Who let you out at night?"
Jen: A lot of folks assume flash mobs have something to do with race, but I don't hear them saying the same thing about rioting in London.
Charles: It's racial to the point that you're talking about poor black kids who want attention. That's how it's racial. A disproportionate number of them are suffering economically, socially, politically, spiritually - that's how it's racial . . . but if you look at what's happening in London, it's a community of people in need. It's, like, b------, pay attention to me. And if you won't, then "I've got something for you."
Jen: You aren't a fan of a lot of commercial hip-hop.
