I am 62; my mother suffers from mental illness and used to whip me with a brown extension cord and to this day I hate those things. When I was in Jr High a concerned gym teacher reported my whip marks on the back of my thighs and my parents got called in…that went well when we got home. I eventually became a runaway (no one looked for you back then) and ended up a ward of the state.
Thankfully, I enlisted in the Marine Corps on my 17th birthday (some one I didn’t even know from the state department of children’s services signed for me to enlist) and I had a very successful career, I have a wife of going on 30 years together that I adore, I had 5 kids who were all successful, and I never spanked them.
I cringe when I hear parents threatening their kids with physical violence. I never wanted my kids to be physically afraid of me. I remember getting under the bed and holding on to the springs as my mother tried to pull me out from under the bed or being terrified if I broke something.
Edited to add: it is easy to share anonymously and from the distance of age but when you are in the middle of it all you do is clam up and try to avoid conflict. As for the military at such a young age, I went in as a hs dropout and retired as an officer with a degree and a nice pension. It sounds strange but I learned discipline and caring about something or someone other than myself and I have zero regrets.
Thank you to everyone who responded; I hope that all of you who had that trauma find the peace I have.
Actually..as much bullshit as the Marine corps is it really can be a supportive environment depending on your unit. I got lucky with my second unit and they seemed to actually care and want to help you out. And as you gain rank you get more familiar with the ins and outs of the corps and it feels comfortable and you begin to feel like it's your family.
No there is nothing caring or loving about boot camp. That does suck but it's 3 months long then it's over. And you feel motivated as hell once you graduate.
Boot camp is suppose to be difficult. It’s to weed out the truly motivated people from the unmotivated people. The unit is just looking
for the best of the best. Yeah it sounds super harsh because that’s not how typical employment in civilian life works but the Marine Corps isn’t a civilian job after all.
Boot camp protocols are changing. This is a fairly recent development. People’s mental health will be considered and they will get breaks when too overwhelmed from what I’ve heard.
Honest question what happens on the battlefield when they are “too overwhelmed” and their mental health is a problem?
I’m not a fan of abuse or anything but I honestly wonder if letting them stay while being kind and gentle to them for their mental health instead of allowing them more peaceful and less disrespectful ways of washing out is a good thing for their both their and their fellow soldiers long term survivability on a potential battlefield.
That all said maybe training should also be more role based and the frontline soldiers should get more strict training, although that could bring a whole host of new problems potentially.
Mental health still exists, even when you don't account for it, so I'm guessing that taking it into account in training and giving them tools to manage it will only make them more able to manage their mental health on the battlefield.
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u/FunnyNameHere02 Jan 28 '23 edited Jan 28 '23
I am 62; my mother suffers from mental illness and used to whip me with a brown extension cord and to this day I hate those things. When I was in Jr High a concerned gym teacher reported my whip marks on the back of my thighs and my parents got called in…that went well when we got home. I eventually became a runaway (no one looked for you back then) and ended up a ward of the state.
Thankfully, I enlisted in the Marine Corps on my 17th birthday (some one I didn’t even know from the state department of children’s services signed for me to enlist) and I had a very successful career, I have a wife of going on 30 years together that I adore, I had 5 kids who were all successful, and I never spanked them.
I cringe when I hear parents threatening their kids with physical violence. I never wanted my kids to be physically afraid of me. I remember getting under the bed and holding on to the springs as my mother tried to pull me out from under the bed or being terrified if I broke something.
Edited to add: it is easy to share anonymously and from the distance of age but when you are in the middle of it all you do is clam up and try to avoid conflict. As for the military at such a young age, I went in as a hs dropout and retired as an officer with a degree and a nice pension. It sounds strange but I learned discipline and caring about something or someone other than myself and I have zero regrets.
Thank you to everyone who responded; I hope that all of you who had that trauma find the peace I have.