Even if you're a firm believer in spanking, don't you have to agree it's a form of violence?

Question

Because spankings, even if given by parents who love their children,are unquestionably intended to cause pain. No one can deny it's physical violence.

Answer 1

oh yes they can...i asked a similar question the other day, and I was shocked by how many parents think it is ok to hit there children when they do something wrong.

Spanking=hitting

So what your saying then Lane is that if you don;t spank your kids you don't care about them? Thats a bit backwards isn;t it?

What I hear with most of these answers is that people who spank have so little confidence in their parenting skills that they have to resort to violence in order to keep their kids "in line."

Answer 2

Of course it's a form of violence. The person is striking another person in order to cause pain and/or humiliation (a form of emotional abuse, right?). How can spanking be appropriate for a parent to inflict on their child, when if the child strikes a parent they are punished?

It's strange but before I had a child I never would have thought twice about spanking, as a parent now I would never do it. We have alot of other techniques available to us that are less violent.

Answer 3

It's violence - even a "swat" on the butt is violence, whether you think it works or not. If your child "spanked" other kids in the exact way described by pro-spankers, they'd be labeled a violent child.

I think spanking works - it works because your children are AFRAID you're going to hurt them. That's not something I can live with.

I noticed there are a lot of answerers here who say, "No, it's not intended to cause pain, it's intended to humiliate" which I would say is WORSE.

Answer 4

I am part of the generation that got spankings. However, I lived with my grandparents for a while and it was my grandmother's idea that we (grandmother,grandfather&I) would all sit down and talk about what went wrong. I also had a chance to ask questions. We did not leave the room until everything was straightened out. My grandmother also told me how the discipline would be in our home. Spanking was the last one! To tell you the truth, I think the return of spanking would be a good thing. After all, kids today are carrying weapons to school and using them there. That is an example of lack of discipline gone extreme. Children want to be disciplined. Often that is why they behave outragously just trying to get your attention and discipline.

Answer 5

They are not designed to cause pain nor are they meant to. They are designed to teach the child that as a parent you have the right to exercise control over them and to discipline them.
Spanking is more about humiliation and association with bad behaviour. If a child is warned not to do something and then they defy you they must be punished in the most suitable way for that child.
Spanking especially for older kids makes them feel immature and teaches them that they do not want to do anything that will merit a spanking

Answer 6

I don't agree that it is a form of violence. As a mother of four, I try to use other alternatives before spanking comes into play. Most times it is just the threat of a spanking that works. My father used a belt on me once and that was all it took for me to understand the lesson. My older brother had a harder time understanding this for some reason. Nevertheless, I could never do that to my own kids.

Answer 7

I do believe can be a form of violence. I mean, let's take a look at the definitions...

Main Entry: 1spank
Pronunciation: 'spa[ng]k
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: imitative
: to strike especially on the buttocks with the open hand
- spank noun

To strike someone - which means to hit. Hitting itself is a form of violence, but really it's a fine line - I mean if you spank your child on the butt and it is with an open hand but it's not hard - some would call it a swat. A little harder a smack or a spank. Do it repeatedly, then it's spanking.

Main Entry: vi·o·lence
Pronunciation: 'vI-l&n(t)s, 'vI-&-
Function: noun
1 a : exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse (as in warfare effecting illegal entry into a house) b : an instance of violent treatment or procedure
2 : injury by or as if by distortion, infringement, or profanation : OUTRAGE
3 a : intense, turbulent, or furious and often destructive action or force b : vehement feeling or expression : FERVOR; also : an instance of such action or feeling c : a clashing or jarring quality : DISCORDANCE
4 : undue alteration (as of wording or sense in editing a text)

Now spanking isn't always used to break bones or alter a child's physical nature - rather I do believe most parents who believe in spanking are merely trying to instill a negative memory with the undesirable action. However if in spanking injury is the result to the child by physical exertion - in either a mild or more severe form then it could be consituted as violence. This I believe is unacceptable.

Main Entry: in·jure
Pronunciation: 'in-j&r
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): in·jured; in·jur·ing /'inj-ri[ng], 'in-j&-/
Etymology: Middle English enjuren, from Anglo-French *enjurer, from Late Latin injuriare, from Latin injuria injury
1 a : to do an injustice to : WRONG b : to harm, impair, or tarnish the standing of c : to give pain to
2 a : to inflict bodily hurt on b : to impair the soundness of c : to inflict material damage or loss on
- in·jur·er /'in-j&r-&r/ noun
synonyms INJURE, HARM, HURT, DAMAGE, IMPAIR, MAR mean to affect injuriously. INJURE implies the inflicting of anything detrimental to one's looks, comfort, health, or success . HARM often stresses the inflicting of pain, suffering, or loss . HURT implies inflicting a wound to the body or to the feelings . DAMAGE suggests injury that lowers value or impairs usefulness . IMPAIR suggests a making less complete or efficient by deterioration or diminution . MAR applies to injury that spoils perfection (as of a surface) or causes disfigurement .

But what about spanking that doesn't involve injury or exertion of physical force. This I would say is more of a swat and is acceptable under certain circumstances.

Answer 8

I think so. I don't really see why people have to resort to spanking or hitting. Kids respond better to time outs, taking toys away, loss of privileges, and other non-violent forms of punishment anyway.

I was spanked as a child - sometimes with the belt. The pain isn't what hurt me and got me to want to correct my behavior. It was the disappointment on my fathers face when he was reprimanding me and telling me why I was getting spanked.

Answer 9

Not at all. It isn't the physical pain from spanking (well maybe initially it is) that causes children to behave, its knowing that their parents are upset at their actions.
If spankings are administered early on then only a stern warning will be required in the future.
All parents (in the animal world) discipline their young through some form of physical dominance- it is unnatural to not spank a child and teach him what is acceptable behavior and what is not.

If the spankings turn into whippings, it begins to enter into another stage. Which is not to say there aren't any teens who didn't benefit from a good hard whipping to straighten them out if they went astray. But generally, by the time kids are 12 or so, they shouldn't have to be spanked, and I agree that could be detrimental to their upbringing. However, the public school system carried out corporal punishment through paddling into the 80's- i was paddled for cutting up in class in the 8th grade- i guess i was going on 14 and in football we got licks in high school for bad report cards. I say quit being so silly about it - its no big deal to get paddled for doing something wrong. Maybe if more kids were paddled for doing bad when they were younger they wouldn't be in jail right now because they would know right from wrong- somebody would've cared enough about them to try and discipline them when they were young.

Answer 10

There is a difference between spanking and beating your children! Spanking is to show discipline. Beating is violence when you hit your child for little things all the time and leave bruises and its everyday then your beating your child and that is wrong! Spanking though when you have tried timeouts and talking things away alot of times they don't really work a small smack in the hand that just stings a little is OK. I would rather have my child's hand or butt sting then having them grow up with no boundaries and being disrespectful to people and others property

Answer 11

vi·o·lence (vī'ə-ləns) Pronunciation Key
n.
1.Physical force exerted for the purpose of violating, damaging, or abusing: crimes of violence.
2.The act or an instance of violent action or behavior.
3.Intensity or severity, as in natural phenomena; untamed force: the violence of a tornado.
4.Abusive or unjust exercise of power.
5.Abuse or injury to meaning, content, or intent: do violence to a text.
6.Vehemence of feeling or expression; fervor.

No because it is not in the definition of violence. No where in the definition of violence does it say anything about a wanted expression of causing pain. A spanking if given properly does not hurt the child for more than a couple seconds or minutes, it is a slap to the bottom, that causes immediate, but not lasting pain.

spank (spāngk) Pronunciation Key
v. spanked, spank·ing, spanks

v. tr.
To slap on the buttocks with a flat object or with the open hand, as for punishment.

v. intr.
To move briskly or spiritedly.

n. A slap on the buttocks.