Do you believe in spanking?

Question

I don't do it but sometimes I wonder. I think some kids need to be spanked and some kids don't. Whats your take?

Answer 1

I remember once, when my son was about 6, he kept touching food on the shelves in the grocery store after i told him a million times not to. He then grabbed a glass jar of olives for some reason and dropped it by accident, sending olives and glass everywhere! I hit his hand once and started yelling at him for not listening. He wasn't even phased by what had happened and I was very frustrated. A woman walked down the isle after hearing the noise, and instead of calling an employee over to help with the mess, she called one over because she said i was beating my child! Of course this didn't make matters any better and i had a LOT of things to say to that woman. Since that day, i never hit any of my kids in public for misbehaving nor did my son ever touch anything again in the grocery store. I'd give them a look and they knew that they would be in BIG trouble when they got home.
I believe in spanking. I have NO patience or respect for those people who threaten with the cops, told me that I was abusing my child or a bad mother. You then look at those people later on in the store and see them very frustrated with their own children, trying to get their kids to behave by saying "stop" and "no" a hundred times, failing to be firm and of course, seeing no results. And they had the nerve to say that i was a bad parent!? A swat on the hand or butt isn't abuse. If you believe it is, you need to read about an abusive case. I'm not saying "Hitting your kids is the answer to gettng them to listen!" because it's not. It was something i did very rarely. I punished my kids with timeouts and loss of privileges too. But i am in a huge believer in the saying Mind Your Own Business. I don't remember anyone else helping me in labor while i brought my kids into this world, therefore i don't need anyone else's help in bringing them up in this world. Unless you see a child in LIFE THREATENING situation, do yourself a favor, and move on. They aren't your child to parent, so don't offer your opinion.
I've always been strict with my children and I'm glad. They don't hate me because of it either. I've been told since my kids were little that they are very well behaved. They weren't born that way. They learned how to act through love and disaplint. Occasionally they wouldn't listen, but they never got to the point where they were walking all over me.
They're now 17,15 & 12, and are all very respectful, happy teenagers. They make mistakes, but everyone does. :) I couldn't be more proud of them and wouldn't change anything about the way i brought them up.

Answer 2

I completely agree with Carrie, Krista & Annmarie. All really had great points. I believe in spanking. I do it very rarely, but i have done it before. Everyone is always worried about what someone thinks of their parenting skills or that it'll have a huge emotional damaging effect on their child, which seems like an excuse for a lot of things these days. I have a degree in child development and sure, i learned that children learn best by example, repetition and reasoning. I use these methods when teaching them manors, how to behave, read, write ext. I don't know about anyone else's kids, but i know with mine, they don't care about why they shouldn't do something. If my 2 1/2 year old wants a hard candy and i say no, he'll get upset. Saying "No Connor, you cant have this handy because you might choke and not be able to breathe...." doesn't make him stop crying and start behaving! That's when parent mode clicks in for me and what i learned in school is ignored. If i raised my kids based on what i learned in college, i would be miserable without a doubt. Kids learn through disciplined, punishment and love. In some situations, a swat on the hand or the butt is the answer, but not always. It's not abuse. Beating is and there's a difference.
No mother should be looked down apon for spanking. In my own opinion, kids of parents who are firm with punishment are better behaved. If you don't believe in spanking, thats fine, you're entiled to your own opinion. Just keep it to yourself and go about your business.
Good luck in finding the answer youre looking for =]

Answer 3

I have five children. It depends on the child and the situation. Two (12 & 10) were spanked, but are no longer.
One (five year old) has been spanked maybe three times. The other two have never been spanked. One is too young (22 months) and one (8years old) has a nervous breakdown when I look at him cross-eyed so I would never dream of spanking him. I would never use spanking as a preferred form of punishment, however, sometimes it has been the only thing that penetrates their little hard heads.

Answer 4

Yes I believe in spanking a child. Spear the rod spoil the child. I think that in certain situation that there is a need for it. By no means do I mean that if they make a mistake or if they do not fully understand what has happen should they be spanked. But if I have taken corrective measure and my little girl fully understands, she also needs to understand the consequences of her action, and that I am in charge. She is very strong willed and will run over people if she knows she can. And that is not happening at home or school. A child's only chance is their parents and if you feel that you should spank or not spank that is your decision and people need to keep their nose out of your business.

Answer 5

If more kids would have been spanked from the 70's on up we probably wouldn't have the troubled teens we do today! i remember if i got into trouble and I was told "wait till your father gets home" I knew I was in for it- and beleieve me a couple of swats across my fanny made me never act the way I had to deserve it in the first place!There is certain circumstances that I don't think it is necessary but in general I think a spanking every now and again reminds kids who is in charge!

Answer 6

Its on a kid to kid basis. I have 3 kids,,,7, 5,, and 2. My oldest 2 know right from wrong and will push me to my very ends, and grounded doesn't work and taking stuff away doesn't work, and my oldest one will hit back and yell and cuss, and my middle one picks up on it. If you spank them a couple times on the butt, then they know that I mean business. But with my 2 yr old, if you let him think he hurt your feelings then he's sorry and he won't do it again. Sometimes I'm like you hurt mommys feeling because you bit or spit or said no, and he crys because he knows what he did was wrong and he won't do it again. I see nothing wrong with a spank(not beating) a kid. Just make sure you do it to let teach them something, not just because you are mad.

Answer 7

First of all, Carrie R. had a really good answer.

I believe in spanking. I also believe that each and every parent should have the right to discipline their child anyway they please. (As long as they aren't leaving bruises). No one should worry about going to a store and getting CPS called on them for spanking a child. The kids are so out of control in stores. I know. I used to work in a store. They would be running all over the place. Kids would be tackling eachother to the ground. Screaming. Running into people. And the parents would either say "stop" a million times, or laugh about the whole thing like it was funny. Some would even threaten a "time out" and the kids would crack up laughing and continue doing what they were doing.

Now the people who call spanking abuse, call cps on everyone they see spanking a child, and telling other people how to raise their kids either...

1. have bratty kids.
or
2. don't have kids at all.

All those people saying that spanking leads to misbehavior, kids trying not to get caught, kids fighting and bullying other kids, fear of parents to the point where they lie about everything. I can guarentee you that I am proof of none of that happening. I have been spanked probably a total of three times in my whole life. Grounding and Time outs didn't phase me one bit. They were a joke. I have never been in a fist fight. Never been suspended from school. Never did half of what "the normal" teenage kids do these days. Never told my parent or any other grownup to "f-off". I never feared my dad or anyone else. I never "tried not to get caught". I even straight up told him when I did bad things. Not because I thought I was going to get a spanking (Oh no!) but because I didn't fear him to the point of his every move scaring me.

Now, you compare me to one of my friends. He has never been spanked. To his mom, spanking is abuse. And you know what he does? He cusses her out everything she says to him. (Even if she's asking something simple like "Where are you going?" he'll call her a b****.) He'll hit her (notice he's never been spanked before. So there goes the theories of "spanking causes kids to hit") And you know what she does? She walks away. The biggest thing she did was a couple weeks ago when she told him to leave. Know how long that lasted before she begged him to come back? Two days. Here he is back to treating her like crap again.

Now, you tell me whether spanking works or not.

Answer 8

I DO NOT!
The best parenting advice I ever received: Never ever hurt a child!

I t is time consuming and sometimes exhausting to teach Instead of punish, and to discipline means to teach! I look at misbehavior as an opportunity to do that teaching.

I often hear people say "Never spank in anger." But I have never seen a child be hit (and that includes spanking) by an adult who wasn't angry.



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Answer 9

i think it is very situational. i spank my daughter sometimes, but it depends on what she has done. sometimes a time-out just doesnt work. and you can only give so many time-outs. some kids react well to spanking, others dont react at all to it. it depends on your child. spanking should never be your only method of discipline!

Answer 10

i dont believe in spanking. i think that it encourages young children to believe that you have to use force to get someone to listen to you. im not saying that all children that are spanked grow up to be violent adults; i actually have many friends that were spanked as children that turned out just fine. but i know an equal number of people that have never been spanked that turned out just fine. and a lot of these people have admittedly been "bad kids" when they were younger. needless to say, if you can raise your kids without spanking, then why would you want to hit them?