Do you strike your children & are you a believer or atheist?

Question

I'm really curious about this issue.

What I want to know is whether you hit your children in any way ,ever .......................and what , if you have any, your beliefs are.

Answer 1

I've never raised a hand to any of my three children, and trust me when I say that as a single mom that was most difficult to do.

When the kids were little I never let them out of my sight for a moment. They were kept from putting a key in an outlet or touching a hot stove because I literally gave up every aspect of my life to be right there beside them.

It was hard, exhausting work, but it was better than smacking kids who are too young to understand why they were being struck in the first place. On the few occasions when I wasn't right there, my shriek at what they were about to do was bloodcurdling enough to stop them in their tracks.

Striking a child is a poor punishment, used mainly by, in my opinion, lazy parents. Discipline should be about learning from your mistakes, or better yet, knowing through teaching/learning not to do wrong in the first place. All spankings teach is that your parents are bigger than you and can hurt you-not much different from a schoolyard bully.

My preferred method of discipline was to take away privileges and require that they be earned back. This hit them where it hurt and they thought twice about repeated offenses.

Answer 2

I was never spanked as a child but being a single mom of two very strong willed children, i am not ashamed to say they have had a smack on the butt a time or two. If you leave a mark or a bruise, i believe a person has went too far and that consitutes abuse. The occasional spanking my children receive is nothing compared to what i have witnessed in the local Wal-Mart. But after trying to reason with my twins, I have found that a quick smack to the butt (which is still covered by clothing, i might add) has been more effective in my home. I am neither a christian or atheist, i am wiccan.

Answer 3

I believe a child needs to be spanked with meaning only once or twice in their lives. Once they understand that there is a higher authority they must answer to you usually have very little problem getting them to be safe and obedient. The Bible says beat them while there is still time, but, it also says to provoke them not to anger. Therein lies the balance. Don't be petty or unreasonable. When my Granddaughter once again ran in a parking lot where she could be injured or killed, you bet she got a spanking and I have not had that problem since. My brother's method of discipline was to speak to his Son, share scripture, pray with him, and then spank him. He is now a a responsible leader and physician. I will bet that a high percentage of children that were spanked appropriately are very functional and successful adults. Mmm

Answer 4

No children yet, but yes, they will be smacked when necessary.

Life isn't peaches & cream, and teaching kids early on that there are certain things that will harm you if you screw up is better than the alternative.

With all the whiny people crying "Child abuse!" at a smack upside the head, we now have an entire generation of morons that don't understand the consequences of being in gangs, getting shot, driving a car like it's a video game, and shooting classmates.

There is a wide line between discipline and abuse, and pain is nature's best teacher. The kid that sticks a fork into a wall outlet NEVER does it again, but the kid that gets put in "time out" for beating up his sister will still be a bully.

As for your pigeonholing, I am neither.

Answer 5

I will when I have them ( I am engaged) I am Messianic Jewish

I believe the Bible over Doctor Freud or Doctor Spock. Sue me.

My uncles kids are spanked. Never in violence or an emotional reaction. They are learning behavior and punishment for certian behavior. First they are warned. Then again. Then dad holds the boys hand and says "lets go, spanking time". He learns. He has respect for adults. He has manners. Not a smart mouth. Which is more than I can say for 99.99% of kids today.

Answer 6

I am a Christian and yes I have spanked my children before. I don't think it's abuse or wrong at all. I ground my 12yr old and put my 5 and 3yr old in time out, but if they are blatantly not listening and doing what I've asked them repeatedly not to do it then I will spank all of them. Usually it's one hit to make sure they understand I'm serious in what I say. When I do hit them it's usually not that hard and they cry from hurt feelings more than pain. Again I don't advocate hitting unless it's to get a strong point across. Example: my son kept trying to run in the street. I hit his butt hard when he continually kept trying to break away from me to do it. I want him to understand I am serious, because I know he could get hit by a car. My spanking is better than the hospital or death. I don't see anything wrong with that kind of discipline.

Answer 7

Both my parents are Christian. My mom used to have some anger management issues (in my opinion) and she spanked me sometimes when I was little (my brother got most of it). But then they got… more Christian? (started going to church more etc) when I was still young and my mom had a talk with the pastor’s wife etc or something, and she didn’t spank me anymore… (not necessarily because spanking was wrong, but doing it out of anger or frustration was...) I’d like to mention I don’t really remember much of that since I was young so I guess it wasn’t scaring… (You never would know if you met my mom today, the first comment to me out of my friend’s mouths after they meet her is along the lines of Oh my gosh your mom is sooo nice/sweet or whatever)
I don’t remember my dad spanking me that much. He could scare the crap out of my just with a look and a talking to (still does)… But I do remember one time he spanked me when I was in about 3rd grade or so (too old for spanking in my opinion), and that was evil (I did not deserve it and that is a fact).

Answer 8

i dnt have children but if i do i dont think i will hit them..cuz i remeber when my mom hit me..like 100 times..i really used 2 h8 her and do lotta things behind her back and do anything just 2 get her mad! but now that she doesnt do it anymore we r almost lie frnz i almost tell her abt everything! she once told me that story that when she was younge her dad used 2 hit her 2 pray and she only made her self looked like praying but she didnt really mean it from the inside..and whever her dad wasnt there she never prayed..HE MADE HER H8 PRAYIN!i think that all of the parents spankin their children should stop it and try 2 be frnz with them..they will respond more..TRUST ME!

Answer 9

I don't have any kids. But, I'm a teacher, so I'm in charge of about 25 kids on a daily basis. Honestly, sometimes I would like to smack them....but, I believe I would be fired..... :)

Really, I think there are always better ways to discipline than to hit. Usually, if you are resorting to physical punishment, you are angry and reacting, rather than thinking and acting.

*Agnostic

Answer 10

Children need to know what the consequences are for overstepping boundaries of behavior.

Having a little chat saying, "Your behavior is making me feel bad" is much less efficient than a good smack on the butt.

So sue me, bleeding hearts...