To spank or not to spank?

Question

I am doing a research project as to whether or not people believe that spanking is an appropriate discipline method. If you believe that spanking is appropriate, when and how should it be used?

Answer 1

When I was a child my parents used to spank me when I really messed up. It hurt and it was insulting and I hated it. But it made me think the next time I tried to act in error. Now that I'm older with children of my own, I realize and am thankful that my parents taught me so well. When my kids mess up bit time I give them a spanking on the but as well. It's funny how I get compliments on my children all the time on how well behaved they are. They still act like normal kids, getting into mischief and that's perfectly fine. But it's when they do something that they have specifically been told not to do because it could cause harm, that's when the spanking happens. And I only have to spank them once on the bottom, no multiples, no belt, no abuse as far as I'm concerned. It's called rearing your kids and more people should do it now days, maybe there wouldn't be so many disrespectful children out there. Today parents want to be their childrens friends and don't want to do anything to jeperadize that. When will they realize that they are parents and with that comes responsibility that may leave them in disfavor at times.

Answer 2

Spanking is very controversial to me. I was spanked as a child, and I remember feeling hurt emotionally that my mom or dad could hit me and not feel sorry for it. My brothers went through high school thinking that hitting was normal, and that anyone who did anything wrong deserved to be hit. I had emotional issues that I had to deal with in couseling, and my therapist asked me if I thought spanking might have had something to do with it. There were no other consequences, therefore I learned NOTHING from my mistakes.

Children should be guided, not hit. A swat on the butt once in awhile when something is severely dangerous is, in my opinion, an attention-getter and not bad (as long as it is just a swat). Showing a child HOW to be good should not include hitting, as this is obviously conterproductive. I watch children for a living, and I NEVER need to hit them for a consequence. I use consequences that relate to the mistake or the misbehavior. For example: if Sally colors on the wall, instead of slapping her hand, I hand her a washrag and some soapy water and have her scrub it off. If she refuses, loss of priveleges or time-out ensue until she corrects her actions.

I think some people spank because they haven't the time, patience, imagination, or intelligence to dole out a productive form of punishment.

Answer 3

i believe that people who try to refrain from spanking a child there are other forms of discipline like time out and taking privileges away. that works better than spanking because i see that if a parent spanks a child then it tends to make the child think hitting is ok. to a child spanking is hitting and they may start going around hitting others because their parents did it and if they did it then it must be ok. that is why i would not spank a child. there are other ways to get through to them without raising a hand or anything else to them. hope this helps. good luck.

Answer 4

Study Pavlov and learn about punishment are reward in training behavior and you have your answer. Children are not fully developed obviously, so communication about behaviors needs to be done in a way that the primitive mind will understand. Good / Pleasure - Bad / Pain. Its the way the mind is designed and without acknowledging this fact a child can not become good.
A baby is amoral, meaning they have no compass for right or wrong. A parent that doesn't spank deprives the child's mind from forming the early groundwork for understanding moral behavior. If they never learn that Bad=Pain in deepest and most basic parts of their consciousness how can that individual ever really understand that actions have consequences?

To anyone who says that spanking is bullying and teaching violence, you must also believe that you can reason logically with 2 year olds and animals. Since you believe this, it shows you are retarded and no one should listen to you. You obviously have no grasp on reality.

Responsible parents training and controlling their children are not angry abusers beating their kids. Its offensive that you people imply that they are.

Answer 5

My sister in law was telling me the other day that they passed a law that you couldn't spank your children if they were under 3 years old.....I think that is a bunch of crap! This is the way I see it....Spanking is meant to be a firm slap on the butt with a hand, not a belt, fly swatter or wooden spoon. I got hit with alot of things when I was younger and I am fine and I think spanking is fine. You should not grow up being afraid of your parents and I think that's what people are worried about.
When it all comes down to the bottom line, I see no problem with spanking, but not beating. When people spank their kids they should not do it out of anger or frustration, but when else are you going to do it? You cant be happy with you child then spank them. I do get upset when I see people beating their kids up and down the aisle at wal-mart but if they would teach their kids how to act then they wouldn't have to get upset when their child acts out!

Answer 6

It depends entirely on the situation.

For example, my mother didn't have to spank us. She just had "the look." That look that made your soul feel like it was on fire, and that whatever you did, you will feel eternally guilty for doing it. We wouldn't do it again because she would undoubtedly remind us of how shameful we felt for being inconsiderate, misbehaved, and generally awful human beings.

So, if your soul is aflame, your conscience is eating your brain, and the guilt is enough to choke a horse, you don't really need to spank the kid. We already felt terrible enough. And we typically never did it again.

Then again, if she did spank us, then what did we learn? Nothing. She just made us angry by spanking us, and we were likely to take out our emotional retaliation on siblings or ourselves. So it doesn't serve much purpose when a parent has good control over their child's behavior.

I personally think that the mind control was much more effective.

Answer 7

Spank
There is a difference between spank---beat---and hit. So, people need to separate that. I only spanked my now 6 year old maybe 4 times. And he knew i meant business. Now, i have a 16 month old who will be getting swatted on the behind plenty. I don't think it should be the first resort, but yes, if nothing has helped then spank!!! I think they will get the picture. I know i did, and my parents did, and so on.
I can't believe they are trying to make it a law, nobody is going to tell me how to discipline my kids. And that law will never fly.

Answer 8

The only time I spanked my children, and for both of them it was the same situation, was when they started to run into the street and wouldn't stop after I hollered at them. I think I may have been scared in both instances, but they each got a couple of swats as I dragged them away from the street and into the house. I still think about that every once in a while and it was 15-16 years ago.

The rest of the time, a time out usually worked to adjust their behavior.

I now have wonderful sons who are young men I am very proud of.

Answer 9

ok let me just say that the dumb lady who thought of the spanking ban has NO children only a cat.

Anyways spanking a child isn't bad. I believe it is a way to get your point across to a child who will not listen. It's basically a last resort to result to. A firm spank on the butt is ok but to use objects is just wrong (ex. belt, wooden spoon, shoe)

Answer 10

I think spanking is appropriate. At this point my child is too young to reason with or use time-outs, therefore spanking his bottom gets his attention and lets him know that his behavior is unacceptable (like trying to touch the hot stove or unplug things).