spanking or not punishing?

Question

what do you think is worse parenting spanking or not punishing?

Answer 1

Not punishing your child is punishment enough! Not showing your child boundaries as they are learning about life will not only devastate you in the long run, but could/would at the very worst cost your child their life. The decisions that they would make would be based on their "wants" not intelligent decision making.

I have spanked my son...I have a very long patient streak with him. He must thoroughly push every button and then some to get my hand on his butt, and that is it. Just remember spanking is totally different than beating and abusing.

Answer 2

Ohh you would rather have someone get an elective abortion then use spanking as a disciplinary tool. LOL A bit much if you ask me. I was spanked a lot as a kid and rightly so...I am glad my mom did not have the same mind set as you! I was an active girl with a temper....and before you jump on that my family did not spank kids till they were 6ish and I was who I was LONG before that. I had 6-9 male cousins around most the time when I was young and an older brother. They never bullied me...I was the one that threw a hand full of lite fire crackers into my oldest cousins car at 5 because he did not let me tag along. I was the one that at 4ish took a bath in the big fish tank at my aunts house..with bubble bath and everything:) I learned to respect other people when I was 6-8. I did have fear of getting spanked for some of my shenanigans and plans but I learned fast that little old I could get someone hurt or get myself hurt. Those same people that did not spare the rod so to say were and are the people about love, respect, and treating people as I wished to be treated. Plus the fear of getting spanked turned into a fear of seeing the disappointment in me at some point. They had expectations for me to grow up to be a good person and citizen. It never cramp my creative nature and I am nothing like they thought other then being a good person and citizen. They are liberal leaning....I am not. They think no one needs more then one or two kids...I want ten if I had the means to have them. Those are just the tip of the ice berg. I still love and respect them and myself. There are kids that need to have NO in their life. That NEED to understand there are consequences to every action they make....and be able to live with them. Spanking a child is NOT about killing the creative nature or abuse. It's about teaching kids the laws of the land. Take a look around and see what no discipline has made of many kids/adults. They think the world revolves around them and they deserve anything they want and can do what ever and not have to pay for their actions. Some of the most rotten people I have ever met are the ones that were never spanked (when they NEEDED it) and end up pathetic self absorbed people.

Answer 3

The best parenting is teaching by example and explanation. But yes, there are situations when parents have to react to negative behavior and teach the child by punishing him or her. That can be done by spanking or by other forms of showing the child that he or she did something unacceptable. So - parenting without spanking is possible, parenting without punishing is desirable but impossible.

Answer 4

I think it depends on the situation... I personally don't spank my child but I dont look down on anyone who decides to. I sit my son in time out or stand in the corner. Not punishing at all I think is definetely the wrong way. There is nothing worse than letting your child think they can get away with anything that they want because thats not going to help anyone when they grow up and get hit with reality in the real world.

Answer 5

Not punishing is worse. Children need discipline to understand the world. If you never got burned, you'd never know to stay away from fire. Discipline will help them understand their world, and (bonus) actually help them to fall in love with you as a parent, because they'll understand that you care about them.

If you don't feel comfortable spanking, there are other means of punishment. I think early on in a child's life, physical punishment is the most effective, but there are always things like time-outs and removing privileges.

Answer 6

Not punishing your child, however it shouldn't be listed the way you have. It should be punish or not to punish. There are a million and one other ways to punish a child than to cause physical pain.

Spanking I suppose would be the lesser of the two evils in my honest opinion. Children beg for guidance and boundries, they want limitations and consequences to grow into respectful and healthy adults. They don't do that by having a friend first and parent second.

Answer 7

I strongly feel that parents not punishing their kids is whats wrong with most of the kids these days. I was spanked when I was younger, and that is most of the reason why I behaved myself throughout my teenage years! I was never "overly" punished, but I definitely knew what was going to happen if I made a seriously wrong decision! Not punishing your kids is teaching them that it's okay to do whatever they want without having to worry about consequences. You don't even have to spank them, just making them acknowledge when they have done wrong and giving some sort of punishment is better than pretending that they just don't screw up sometimes.

Answer 8

Not punishing. If a child grows up with no discipline think about what their going to be like as an adult. If you dont agree with spanking there are many other forms of discipline you can use-regardless discipline is better than no discipline.

Answer 9

Not punishing. Spanking lets the kid associate the smack with doing something wrong and the kid will learn not to do it. Not punishing lets the kid run wild and be a total brat.

Answer 10

no punishment is definatly worse!spanking doesn't have to be abuse but not punishing can spoil your child.my kids are spanked as punishment alot of the time over my knee panties lowered.my children behave wonderful.i know a couple kids who are poorly disciplined and trust me you wouldn't want them near your house.if a child isn't disciplined think how it will grow up.there are many ways discipline you do not have to turn to either of these choices.