Punishment and PDA

Throughout history many changes have occurred; some have been good some bad. I have noticed two major changes throughout history that have continued changing even in the past few years.

First, the way people discipline children, whether it be their own or other people's kids, has changed rather drastically over the years. It used to be punishment through physical contact, of varying severity, was the way to go, then time outs, then chores, then disappointing looks, then public shaming, and now taking electronics away. While this may seem like a lot of different kinds of punishment, I know there are many other types I am unaware of. However, there seems to be an overarching theme starting with severe punishment and becoming less severe over time. Also, it used to be more acceptable for another parent, family member, or friend to discipline a child instead of just the parent. This shift probably occurred over time as morals changed. People seem to have become more focused on the home life being private not something everyone and anyone can be involved in. Therefore, the parent seems almost possessive over their child's punishment. Parents also want to be independent and successful by their own measures, not constant judgement from others. Also, there has been an increase in concern about a child's wellbeing and potential risk of child abuse so parents have had to change their techniques as not to raise concern from the public. Also as kids change what they are interested in having and doing the punishments follow these patterns.

Another major paradigm shift I have recently noticed is the change in PDA, public display of affection. It used to be that when a guy and girl liked each other the male would court the girl and they would little to no affection before marriage. However as times progressed couples began holding hands, hugging, kissing, and now practically having sex in public before being married. These changes followed events that happened in history. Before the roaring twenties very minimal PDA existed. As the roaring twenties began and women became more comfortable with themselves and wanted to be risque, the level of PDA increased. As time went on the culture behind relationships changed. People began dating younger and it became more socially acceptable to have sexual relations before marriage. Since people were okay with these relations couples began to show their love for each other in public. It has slowly escalated over time as people pushed the boundaries to see what was socially acceptable. This change in attitude of PDA is also reflected in the movies of each time period. The characters tended to follow the morals of the time period they were or would appear to have slightly looser morals.