Is there a DIFFERENCE in hitting your child or spanking your child?

Question

yes or no and why.

Answer 1

yes spanking is discipline hitting is abuse

Answer 2

Yes. Spanking usually implies smacking a child on the bottom whilst hitting is more associated with punching or kicking and generally badly hurting someone. While they are basically the same thing, spanking is viewed as something less devastating than physically beating a child. Or spanking may just be used to lessen the severity of what occurred.

Answer 3

I think spanking is a reasoned response given by a loving parent to a misbehaved child. It is a series of swats given to the child's bottom.

Hitting can mean anything from a spanking to a punch in the face. It is any method of striking the individual. Hitting is also a more powerful word and is often used by anti-spankers when they say that spanking is violence.

Answer 4

To me, hitting your child implies doing so in anger, just
lashing out whereas spanking refers to using a whack on
the butt or hand to discipline. I know the current ideology
is to say that spanking is bad, but have you seen those
kids misbehaving in public and the parents seem to be
helplessy wringing their hands and trying to REASON with
them while the totally out of control kid is totally ignoring
anything the parent says? The threatened "time outs"
don't make a difference. Sometimes you just need to
take them aside and spank. I'm not talking about a beating,
one of my friends used to carry a wooden spoon and dole
out a couple of not so gentle whacks on the butt. It gets
the kids attention So a spanking is a discipline done
when no other form of punishment works, and it is done
when the parent is in control of their emotions, not when
they are angry. Hitting when angry is child abuse.

Answer 5

YES! spanking is a slap on the butt and I think ok for disaplinig a child.
hitting is more angry anywhere on the childs body and IS in no way right to do at any time

Answer 6

There is. This is the difference.

Main Entry: hit
Pronunciation: 'hit
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): hit; hit·ting
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hyttan, probably from Old Norse hitta to meet with, hit
transitive verb
1 a : to reach with or as if with a blow b : to come in contact with c : to strike (as a ball) with an object (as a bat, club, or racket) so as to impart or redirect motion

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

So I think a spanking is by hand and that hitting means with an object. However in comman usage we call it all spanking if one is making contact with the bare bottom of a miscreant.

Answer 7

I think hitting your child means that you are hitting them someplace other than the bottom.

In my personal opinion I believe it is okay to spank or swat a small child if they are in danger if they do a certain behavior. I would rather give them a swat on the behind than have them burn themself.

I do not believe in using hitting or spanking for any other reason.

Answer 8

I think theres a difference definantly. Hitting your child in my opinon is a form of abuse. 'Spanking' or 'Smaking' as we call it here in Australia is needed under some circumstances. I dont believe anything is wrong with smaking your child if you are the parent.

Answer 9

mmm maybe it can be the way that u what to use spanking or hitting. Hitting can be use in case of abuse of trying to make ur kid behave, and spanking could be when u r mad @ ur kid

Answer 10

yes i believe hitting is out of anger and spanking is discipline and spanking means on the butt where hitting is undefined

Answer 11

yes... a light spanking should not hurt... like lightly tapping on their hand to let them know what they did was wrong (tots) it is more like yelling at a dog (scolding)
hitting a child should be reported