I know i would rather get my ass kicked then spanked. The Christian Science Monitor is an international news organization offering calm, thoughtful, award-winning coverage for independent thinkers. She couldn't hold the tears back any longer, they fell freely from her small, doll-like face, darkening the ruffled pillow clutched in her arms.

Vanessa tensed so hard her entire body quivered like an autumn leaf, sobbing incoherently in the new silence. The pain had been absolutely tremendous this time, a blinding haze of agony that shuddered around her bottom and ran thin streaks of fire down her inner thighs. But when the counselor visits her home, Lisa's deception is discovered and she is subjected to a hand spanking followed by several painful swats from a paddle before being made to stand in the corner.But the moment I hung up the phone after speaking with the principal, I felt in my gut that I knew what I had to do. We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations. So I’ve been dealing with 3 kids since dawn and haven’t hit anyone, even when I was at the end of my damn rope, but he comes in and hits in anger within 2 hours of being with them?

But you’ll find in each Monitor news story qualities that can lead to solutions and unite us–qualities such as respect, resilience, hope, and fairness.

A gang of thieves lure a man out of his home so that they can rob it and threaten his wife and children.