That is weird, but I must tell you, its not an uncommon 'child punishment' in some cultures, and I can't exactly say its cruel. I know a lot of people of Arab origin who use the 'jalapeno technique' on their children. For ME, jalapeno is nothing I would call 'cruel'. I can eat it with no problem. I love hot foods. For my little cousins in Pakistan, jalapeno is candy. They LOVE it. If their parents were to punish them with jalapeno, they would say "Bring it on!" LOL!
I, personally, do NOT like to eat jalapenos by themselves...because I just find them tasteless, but my dad eats several with dinner everyday. He eats the HOTTEST ones, and LOVES them. Yesterday at dinner, he was eating several and started sweating. I asked him, "Dad...what's the point in eating something that will make you sweat like that?" He said, "It tastes good...I like it." So anyway, I decided to try one too and see how hot it was. Oh...it was hot, but it was not so hot that I would consider giving it to a child 'cruel'. Its just not something I enjoy...even though I love hot food. Maybe I just don't see it because I grew up eating and enjoying hot foods. Arabs usually cannot tolerate hot foods, so giving it to THEIR children like some people I know DO, might be cruel. I don't agree with this technique. I don't like it. I think its a stupid and ridiculous way to punish a child. Even if it ISN'T cruel, it is teaching a child to hate and despise a certain type of food. That is not good in my honest opinion.
As to spanking, I do not find spanking cruel in the least bit. There's a difference between spanking and hitting/beating. Big difference. My parents didn't spank me much when I was young, but there were times when they did. It never hurt...just warned me and gave me the message that *Mom's mad at me.* As a child, I did not like the idea of Mom being mad at me, so a little spank was enough to set me straight. When I did something wrong in front of others, I would get the 'look'. No spanks in front of people.....but that LOOK my mom would give me was enough to make me stop whatever I was doing and behave. I don't think spanking is wrong. Hitting and beating a child is TOTALLY unacceptable, but little spanks are things children need sometimes, just to 'get the message'. I know children that NEVER get spanked or scolded by their parents, and they're practically devils. No one wants to be around such children. Light spanking is called discipline...not abuse.
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