Corporal punishment, yes or no? Why or why not?

Question

I'm not talking about in schools, I mean in the home. I'm against it, one shouldn't hit an animal, much less a child. If you feel the need to hit your child, then you have failed to your child.

However, there are differences of opinion. Are you for spanking children or not? Explain. And please, nice answers, let's keep this at a mature, adult level, no insults or name-calling. Thanx!

Answer 1

I am in favor of spanking, by which I mean slapping on the bottom in a controlled way for a specific misbehavior that the kid knew in advance that he would get spanked for. Beating (like with a fist), or hitting in anger, or hitting for no good reason, is a completely different thing than spanking.

Answer 2

Yes. I believe in spanking, but only as a last resort. Not all children respond in the same way, so different punishments must be explored. A spank here or there won't harm a child. Parents shouldn't spank in anger, but a spank does tell the kid that when mom or dad can't think of any nicer ways of punishment, I'll get hit, so they should try to avoid it. Spanking isn't torture, as long as it is used as an effective tool of discipline. Anything of extremes is dangerous. I have a friend who's parents would ground him for months. He was only allowed to go to school, and come out for dinner and of course, bathroom breaks. In latar years, he was in and out of juvi, and jail, and I asked him why he kept going, he said"amoung other things, juvi and jail were like vacations for me, compared to the life I lived at home. He said he could tolerate the "beatings" his dad would give him with a belt(excessive in my opinion), but the grounding started when that didn't work anymore. I'd rather get spanked than tortured mentally.

Answer 3

Greetings:

Each human being is an expression of Divinity in incarnation.

It is each person's destiny that his/her personality will one day reflect this divinity. Personality is defined as the totality of our words, thoughts and deeds.

We shall eventually achieve this goal, by learning to be harmless in word, thought and deed and so be in harmony with Universal Law.

Children are to be socialized therefore, in a manner that prepares them at each stage for the next phase of this beautiful journey called life.

Now, if a child is being harmful in word, thought and or deed according to the parent's values, now tell me, what in the name of child-rearing, does brutalizing (read, corporal punishment) have to do with the destiny of the poor, defenceless, little kid.

I've never seen or heard of corporal punishment being administered in a cool, calm, collected manner. Quite the opposite is the case, with mayhem, confusion, screaming and general bedlam from BOTH ends of the strap or whatever.

A kid learns from this atmosphere and environment, one thing and one thing only, that violence is an acceptable option when he's p-oed, since example is more potent than precept as a teaching tool.

And here I was in the TWENTY-FIRST century, thinking that corporal punishment had gone out with T-Rex.

Peace,
Justice

Answer 4

Yes, I do think spanking can be an effective parenting tool if used correctly. I usually only spank after at least one warning or if other measures have failed, such as corner-time or timeout. However lying or doing anything dangerous is automatically a spanking, no warnings or second chances.

Answer 5

To spank or not to spank? That's a hard decision to make. My husband and I spank as a last resort and only for major offenses, such as lying, cheating or stealing. Luckily, so far, we've only had to deal with lying. The trick is to find the one thing that your child absolutely hates and use that as a punishment. For example, our older son hates to be by himself, so if he's misbehaving or throwing a fit, we send him to his room. Our younger son, who is a little on the lazy side, hates to do push ups. We also have a dog kennel that needs to be cleaned and a big yard that needs to be raked. Time outs are good for minor offenses and we always explain why they are getting punished. Sometimes we make them choose the punishment.

Answer 6

No! you can take away their games console,or stop them going to see a movie,but you NEVER use adult force and big,loud voice to dominate and hurt a child...even if you believe you are doing that for their sake(!?)

Answer 7

No! Torture is not a good thing, for children or anyone else.