Would you ever hit a.... CHILD???

No I do not BEAT my children, but have they had a spanking from time to time, yes, but never to the point of leaving a mark on them and never hard enough to do anything other than get their attention. Part of what is wrong with children today is they have no consequences for wrong doing, do I think a child should be beat, no but a parent should be able to make the decision to spank a child if the time arises to do so. I was spanked as a child and well I was not damaged for life as a result, but I did learn that I had to listen to my parents and obey them as a result. Which I did, I was not spanked often as I learned my lesson. Spanking and beating are two different things Now as far as a teacher/babysiter etc, they better not lay a hand on my child, that is my child and I would be livid if this was my daughter. To leave a mark on a child is wrong, even if you are the parent.

If a kid is being mischevious then he/she has learnt it from you, me and other adults. Children are like clays and we as parents, siblings, peers, member of the society model them to be what they are. They are not the sole things to be blamed. To me children are like mirrors. When they see someone do something (good or bad) they think that is how things are done. So they simply redo what they have seen a grwon person doing. If they are arrogant to you - then it is simple - you can see yourself in that kid. If you are unruly you can see that in your kid. So, Beating a kid means beating yourself!

This is horrible. children do need loving discipline and this is not the way to go about it. I use the naughty corner for my grnad twins and my children were sat down on a chair without a book or any toys if they were naughty. Or a toy might be taken away for a day etc. Children need love and lots of it. If a parent is about to lose it then the parent should walk away until they are in control of themselves. Blessings

It's sad to think that anyone would hit a child, but those are probably the same people that see spanking a child's bare bottom a suitable form of punishment. Why? I know if I ever had a kid and they got in trouble for whatever reason, I wouldn't hit them, I would tell them to take responsibility for their actions. That way at least the punishment fits, they don't get traumatized, and they learn responsibility at a young age.

Generally, I don't think hitting your child is a good idea as talking them out and make them understand what they have done wrong is much better. However, I sometimes ask myself, does it make sense to talk about the mistakes a 3 year old child have been doing and "why" it is a mistake at all? I mean are they really able to understand anything you are talking at all? Hitting them (I only mean to make them feel pain but not to hurt them) give them a direct understanding that something is simply forbidden. I understand that we have to forgive them of making mistakes but then we have to make them aware that sometimes, something is simply not accepted and if they still make the same mistake over and over again. Letting them feel some pain, from my point of view, is the most effective way of teaching them not to do that again.

Someone should never use violence as a threat if dis pleasured, however a spanking, even an old fashioned butt kicking in the grocery store is a much kinder fate then years of prison, fines or any other legal ramification of "mischievousness or naughtiness" as an adult. If parents don't teach a child to respect authority, then a child is going to have a rude awakening when they reach the real world. It is a parent's duty to prepare their child for survival and it would be a great disservice to any child if they didn't. Now I am not advocating child abuse, and I am not advocating using spanking in any but extreme cases, but the fear of a whoopin is an extremely effective tool when keeping someone who has yet to learn morals or ethics on the right path.

i don't have a child yet at the moment... but i will spank my child if i have to every now and then to discipline him/her... and i will only use it as a very last resort if the child is really uncontrollable... i disagree with your statement that say "a child is meant to be loved and only loved"... not in my opinion... that's why we can see a lot of spoilt child nowadays... love should be balanced with justice... so i think spanking the child every now and then is OK... but of course not beating until leaving a permanent mark on the child... i will never do that... take care and have a nice day...

This is a tough one. I don't disagree with smacking a child, if they are old enough to understand why and there is a good enough reason for it. When I was at primary school my 1st year teacher, who happened to be the Headteacher used a ruler on your hand when you misbehaved or didn't do what was expected of you. It happened to me once, my mother went to the school as she was not happy about it at all. Looking back, it didn't do me any harm, there is no permanent damage, I don't have any mental scarring, it is just what happened back then.It taught me a lesson though! My mother also used to smack me, again it did me no harm and there was always a good reason for it. None of these incidents were wrong as it taught me a lesson and it was only ever done when everything else had been tried. I now have a daughter and on 2 occasions she has had a smacked bottom, it is always for good reason, she has a very fierey nature and on occasion it is the only way to get through. I think unless you are a parent or have regular contact with children, by this I mean you are a teacher or a nanny or parent etc, you cannot comment on how wrong you think it is or say that you would never smack a child. Each situation is different, children need to be disciplined and to be taught right from wrong, if the occasional smack achieves this then I don't think it is wrong. It did me no harm nor my relatives who also endured similar lessons in life. It is not abuse of any kind as long as you are in control and your child does learn from their actions. With respect to you, children are very good at being angelical with certain people, do not be fooled, this cute little girl could have another side, almost every child does. Please don't think of me as an awful person, I love my daughter more than anything in this world, I promise you she will grow up remembereing the good times and a happy childhood and will have forgotten about the odd smack here and there. There is too much rubbish these days about what you should and shouldn't do to discipline children, the reason half of them are trouble when they grow up is because they have had no discipline at home and the parents have not spent enough time with them teaching them right from wrong.

At school when I was growing up, only a principle or a deputy principle were allowed to use a stick we called the cane. It was only applied to the hand. Children these days at school don't even know what a cane was. I have never hit another person's child. I have not had the need to hit other children. They behave or they don't come back. Simple rule there. But I have hit my children on 1 of 2 places. On the bottom/thigh or the back of the hand. When I have hit them, it has been for punishment and done out of love. My children always have had the choice. I prefer to send them to their rooms, but if they don't go their other choice of punishment is a smack. It was couple of weeks ago my youngest asked for something. I said no. She start to whinge. I told her to stop whinging and that what she wanted, we had all weekend to do it. She still kept on whinging. I asked her to stop whinging. But she just got louder and louder. I started to ground her to stop her from going over to her friends place. It just got worse. I got to 2 months grounding and then decided to send her to her room. She refused to go and whinged even more. In a firm voice, I said that is it, 12 months grounding and go to your room. She still refused. I got up, pointing to her room and told her that she can choose between a smack or her room. She ended up getting a smack on her bottom. She got up, crying all the way to her room. She then decided to bash a few things around. Then to my suprise, she started cleaning her room without being asked. I just didn't know what to do. She was trying to walk all over me, saying that she didn't care in between her whinging. I needed to do something that she did care about. I was firm with her but never smacked her out of anger. I smacked her because I love her. I will also admit, that there was one time when she was alot younger, she got my temper going. I was getting angry this day. I went to smack her for something she had done. I stopped, I started crying and I sent myself to my room. I even slammed the door closed and my girl started to howl. If I had smacked her this particular day, I would not have stopped. I would have classed this as child abuse. I was so angry, so I had to punish myself for getting angry. I didn't keep calm and under control. I refuse to smack when I am angry and out of control.

I used to slap my niece's hands when she's having tantrums or bullying other children. But not a really hard slap, just hard enough to let her know that what she's doing is wrong. It doesn't really hurt her physically, more of emotionally because she knows that I'm mad at her. Slapping is common here in my country, but I really try to avoid it if I can. I don't want her to grow up a bully. I did what I did out of love. I'm like a second parent to her because her parents used to leave her with me often. Now that she's a little bit older I don't slap her anymore because she listens now when I tell her that what she's doing is wrong. We have a good relationship and I'm really proud of what she has become.

if needed yes, but not that hard until they suffer hard damage. only hit them on spot that has lot of fats like the palm.

I believe a child should be punished but to beat a child or even hit a child beyond a slap on the wrist is child abuse in my eyes. Not only that the teacher at this school, by law is not allowed to touch the child. She should be turned into authorities and the matter should be investigated. I work at a childcare facility with the infants. They can be trying at times. They can sometimes cry excessively but that does not give me the right to try and silence them by using force. Children are defenseless. They cannot defend themselves against someone that is 10x there size. If I knew this teacher I'd walk up to her and straight up tell her that if she wants to hit someone hit someone her own size and proceed to step towards her. If she's the coward I believe she is she'd back down because she's only "strong and tough" when beating a defenseless child. Report her to the child's parents and/or authorities immediately before something more serious happens.

Hitting your child goes farther than just hurting them. It can leave emotional scars that can take a lot of therapy to heal. Hitting a child, whether it be yours or someone elses is completely wrong. I am completely against it. Teachers are supposed to be able to tolerate the young ones they work with. If that teacher can not handle how a child acts, they should not be teaching (at least that at that level.). No matter how bad things are going in your life, when you are a teacher, you are in a different place, and with different people. Work and personal life are completely different things and should never interact. Perhaps report that to the police, or the board of education in your district.

I feel that words are much stronger than a slap. If a parent cant control their child with words, then i dont feel that they are fit to be parents. All slapping a child does is show that the parent has lost it and needs a way to release that anger. The child needs to learn that you need to control yourself when your mad at someone, which they will not be doing if you hit them. You dont want your child hitting people that theyre mad at, do you?

Wow. I'm a mother of 2. I don't beat my kids (even when they probably deserve it...LOL). I have on occasion given swats on the behind when it's been needed but that is MY choice. I'd be very upset if their teacher hit them in any form. If there was a problem with the child the teacher should have dealt with parents, not taken it upon herself to hand our that type of punishment.

I would never do that to my own child, this is child abuse. If I know my child's teacher hit her like that then I will not sitting still... I will go and ask or sue her for this... My child is a human, a little baby one and she hit her like she is an animal. NO dont even touch my child in this way. Im sorry, for all the madness but it is just piss me off so much. I do hit them but with my hand to her/his butt, just a little to make sure they get my attention... but a stick? NO. we have to do something about it.

I am not a parent yet, but I think I will spank my child as a form of discipline. Just so that they will no that what they did was wrong and later expalin to them why I spank them. But I will not beat them that they will be on so much pain and anguish. That would be abusive.

i am from a country that takes hitting as a means of correcting children's wrong but i will not hit a child to the extent of leaving scars on his or her body.for me i am having a scar that can never be erased on my body due to my cousins wickedness. but i doeesn't give me the encouragement to hit others. i muust confess that mylot is quite an interesting site where useful discussion are made. RID ON EVERYBODY!!!

I have had my kncukles rapped with a yardstick for being left-handed when I was in school. I survived a mother that bounced me off walls and left over 80 stitches in my scalp over the sixteen years I lived with her. When I became a father my greatest fear was that I "beat" my children the way my mother beat me. That being said. . . We have a list of consequences based upon the severity of the offending act. From a simple discussion and lecture that guides them (the kids) into verbalizing how they're actions were wrong, to standing in the corner, to loss of privilages and yes, the last level is a spanking to be recieved the next day with both parents present. (I may take away their computer privalges in anger, but would never strike one of them in anger) Why would I spank my children, if I was beaten? Because, it is only used as a last resort and underscores that some things we do wrong are worse than others. There is a fine line between "abuse" and "punishment", what works with some children, even in the same household, does not work with all children. Parenting is an education in human development, both the child's and the parent's.

Many people in jail wish they had a stern parent who hit them from time to time. Being hit does not feel good so a young child who does not understand your wisdom will understand that they do not want to be hit anymore.