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Article: Feeling the Heat; Some Parents Apply Hot Sauce to a Child's Tongue as Punishment. The Practice Has Some Experts Burning
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 10, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Hot sauce adds a kick to salsa, barbeque, falafel and hundreds of
other foods. But some parents use it in a different recipe, one they
think will yield better-behaved children: They put a drop of the
fiery liquid on a child's tongue as punishment for lying, biting,
hitting or other offenses.
"Hot saucing," or "hot tongue," has roots in Southern culture,
according to some advocates of the controversial disciplinary method,
but it has spread throughout the country. Nobody keeps track of how
many parents do it, but most experts contacted for this story,
including pediatricians, psychologists and child welfare