Thread by @SarahUnsicker

What we are dealing with in Missouri goes far beyond a few high-ranking elected officials. We have a system that harms children and allows this to happen. This short 🧵is not intended to excuse anyone's actions, but ... 1/

https://twitter.com/SenSaraGelser/status/1566574085593001984

This system is rooted in our laws and in the deep culture of Missouri.

1. We have a culture that believes corporal punishment is good and the best way to raise a child is not positive parenting, but to force bad behavior out of them. 2/

2. We have a culture that takes the puritan work ethic to a fault. Productivity is the objective, and those who are not "productive" are valued less. Work that is not "productive" like raising children or caring for the elderly is seen as second-class work. 3/

3. We have a culture that emphasizes the parents' rights to raise a child over the child's rights to be raised in a loving, healthy environment that will lead to them becoming independent-thinking adults. 4/

4. We have a culture that devalues whole-child education. The purpose of school, according to many parents, is to develop productive adults. The purpose of college is to get a job. Children who grow up this way eventually reinforce the culture above (esp. #2). 5/

None of the above are laws. Our laws codify our culture. Our laws reinforce the values above. And you cannot change culture by changing laws. 6/

Worse, the culture is being exploited. If we had a system that devalued corporal punishment, the community wouldn't support schools like #Agape and it would never have existed. 7/

Adults with a poor education who have been raised with a good whoopin' and "turned out fine" don't see the need for anything better for the next generation. Their trauma prevents them from believing that life could be better. 8/

"Parental rights" means parents can homeschool children with no oversight--no testing or curriculum requirements, nobody to check to make sure the children are learning. 9/

The puritan work values labor (even in children) and independence without recognizing that someone has to give these people a paycheck, and we need to be checking up on those people. 10/

Yes, I am a lawmaker. The way the legislature is set up, I have very little power to make significant legislative change. Legislation is just words on paper unless it is enforced--Even if I were to pass a law banning spanking, nobody would follow it without cultural change. 11/

The legislature is taking advantage of the culture, though, to get things through without much discussion, while spending hours on culturally divisive issues. 12/

For example, we spent hours discussing a bill to ban trans girls from sports. It didn't go anywhere. But a bill that strips citizens' rights to vote was passed without much discussion. 13/

And the legislature is not the only branch of government. I could go on another long thread about how the culture of agencies resists change when good leaders try to bring needed change. 14/

But the Governor and Legislature control the budget. The Department of Labor has a shoestring budget to investigate exploitation of workers. The Children's Division is bleeding staff because they pay lousy wages for a difficult job. 15/

So yes, those who intentionally exploit the system and do harm should be held accountable. But people who genuinely want to do the right thing are held back because of systems that resist change or a culture that tells them that what's wrong is right. 16/end

PS: The lack of mental health resources here (much less quality providers) makes this impossible to climb out of. If nobody says "beating kids is bad" AND nobody shows them a better way to do it, while helping them deal with the trauma of being beaten, they can't get out.