"Spare the rod and spoil the child" - Is spanking really effective?

no way .if one can understand the childs psychology and his feelings they will realise that it is the love that is needed by them and not spanking.i feel spanking if at all needed it is for elders who cant understand a child and his naughty behavior

I think everyone gets too into child rearing what is right and what is wrong. It is the parents duty to raise the child. I think a parent should be able to spank a child. Not beat it, not hurt it. But, once in awhile a swift smack in the re end is a good thing.

I am a teacher in a country that just abolished corporal punishment, in schools, a few years ago and there are still teachers that think it was the end of discipline and classroom order. Fourtinunately the more enlightened are beginning to realize that you can gain more with rewards than you ever could with the bamboo cane. I hope parents come to realize this soon also. It would go a long way towards reducing the violence in our society.

You don't have to beat a child to learn its lesson. You can try by gentle persuasion and a child will respond to you in the same manner. Beating a child would only make a child fearful to express himself and would carry that to adulthood. Give him space to think for himself and correct it along the way that would not need any violence is I think the best that you could give your child a happy childhood.

I think there are more effective to discipline your child. A well thought out punishment will leave a bigger impact than a spanking.

There is a difference between a spanking or a beating. Children under the age of 3 do not understand logic. One cannot rationalize with them. So if your 2 year old is going to stick a hairpin in an electric socket - a slap on the wrist or a swat on the butt (which is what I consider a spanking) may be a life saving thing. Most people who say you should never spank a child - have never had children of their own. Beatings though - i.e., using a belt, a switch or some other object to hit a child with is abuse and crossing the line. When my kids were small, I would take one sheet of a newspaper and roll it up and swat them on the butt with it along with a stern NO to get their attention. It made a whole lot of noise, but never injured none of those kids. I kept my children from sticking their fingers in the fan, sticking them in open flames and many other near catastrophies using that technique. Simply telling a child no - just doesn't work and time out doesn't work on a 3 year old either.

I've never much believed in spankings. I grew up with a mother who very much believed in them, and I really don't think they ever did anything for me except make me feel worse about myself than I did before because I was such a terrible person. Therefore, I almost never paddled my kids growing up. However, when I moved to Tennessee to teach, I found out that they still paddle kids in the schools there. I could never bring myself to do so, although I did send a few boys to the principal over the years. He would inevitably paddle them, but their behavior never improved so I thought it was pretty ineffective as a punishment. I would have preferred if the principal had talked to them and put the fear of God into them that way.

My parents are NOT christian. They do NOT read the bible, but I got spankings when I was younger. It isn't always Christians that do this. I also don't hold a grudge against my parents for my spankings because that is how they were also raised and I turned out just fine. I suppose it is also a cultural thing too because my friends all got spankings when they were bad too.

Okay I let the bible hugger slur pass. But the child beating comment no. There is a difference between beat and spanking. Even though it says beat in the bible most people do not beat their child. Like last night my grandchild came over and was pitching a fit and wouldn't do anything but have a fit. I gave him a quick swat to the butt and that ended it. So yes spanking is effective sometimes. If you want a healthy and fun discussion then you might not want to start out by calling people names. You could have easily said Those that read the bible.

I think if my child is heading toward the street and risks getting hit then i think it should be ok i believe you should only spank on the rear with their pants on and i believe in using a wooden spoon i dont use my hand cuz those are for comfort but they know if i say im going to get the spoon they straighten up i would rather spank them then get them hit by a car cuz they will remember the spanking and that its not enjoyable but if you sit them in the corner for long times then they get a repetitive disipline and they dont get phased by it there have been tiimes when they dont pay attention and throw fits uncontrolably and i have to get them on the butt to get them to stop and they stop i dont think spanking should be an all the time event but when theres concern for their safety yes i agree

I do not think hitting your child is right. All you are doing is teaching them violance. "Don't hit other childern" then you spank them, what message does that send, do as I say not as I do. It just seems wrong to me.

I protest child spanking :) Spanking should be made in the right situation and not initiated by anger. Because spanking with anger is child beating and that won' help to mold your child to behave as well as you've expected to. I don't really agree to child spanking because 1st of all, spanking somehow can hurt a kid. Once you can't control your anger, that will dwelt hard beating to kids. The level of their understanding is not like adult people with normal level of apprehension. They should just be talked very well about their mistakes and spanking won't straighten a mistake made. The more spanking, the harder it gets, the sooner it'll goes to beating and if the child is already used with how much it hurts them, the child won't even mind. Because in his/her head, the hurt is nothing already.

First, those two Proverbs, doesnt mean that bible allows you to spank your child. it is just a figurative saying.. you should remember when reading the bible to not take the word for its own meaning.. think the meaning behind it.. think it with wisdom.. this is where the problem usually arises.. because many people read and took the word meaning of the bible and misinterpret the whole things.. I dont think spanking is the best way to teach your kid.. because it will hurt their soul and subconsiously they may hate their parents for it.. I know a lot of my friend that still behold that hate until now (im 21).. though lucky to say Im not one of them. There are many ways to teach your kid when they behave bad .. such as time off.. sending your kid to apologize to the person they have hurt.. or get them to do household duties (such as clean up after dinner.. or tidy up their room etc2 or get them to do their homework and no TV for them such as like that).. Parents should show love to their kid.. because as the bible say Love is the most important ones.. love also means forgiveness.. and of course love doesnt hurt the kids.. :)

I was spanked as a child and it instilled a fear in me of my parents. My son was having some behavior issues and everyone kept telling me that he just needed a good spanking. I had tried everything else so I gave in. We (hubby and me) tried spanking for about a week. Well, my son starting hitting. He thought it was okay to hit--even though we explained why he got spanked and never acted/hit in anger. I had enough and cut out the spanking--it didn't work or curb his behavior--it made him worse with the hitting issues--that took weeks to repair the "lesson" learned for spanking. My children now lose priveleges and toys for punishment. It works--they hate losing beloved toys and being able to go bowling or going to someone's house to play. We also do time alone/time out....that kills them. They hate having to sit and do nothing for a small amount of time. Maybe spanking works for some parents/children--but not for mine. I don't want anyone to think I am coming down on them for spanking. You have to do what is right for you and your child and we all know that all parents and children are different. The rest of my family spanks their kids--I do not preach at them and vice versa.

im a parent and i do not believe in spanking a child it does not teach them anything but violence.i also do not believe it is effective at all use other forms of discipline besides spanking in my eyes spanking is very wrong.

this is a question that bothers me a lot. i have a 16 month kid who gets out of hand sometimes. as a child, my parents used to spank me and my siblings. and we were always well behaved kids and we dont hold a grudge against our parents for that. however, now that i am a parent myself, sometimes being stern with them also doesnt help. i guess a little pat on her diaper is not a sin. i am sure that parents who love their children more than their lives wont do something to hurt their kids.

Spamking is not beating. I know from experience that it works better on some kids than others. I am for spanking, not beating. Smacking a kid on the butt is much differnt than balling up your fist and smaking them in the face.

I think it is not abusive if it is done for a reason. I mean, if it's really the child's mistake but after that it should be accompanied with an explanation, "WHY?", there should be some words of wisdom after spanking the child so that it won't happen again.

While in the past it was preached as you say I think today it is not something to be expressed by most churches. With child abuse at the level it is even churchs are lowth to make it worse. I personally beleive that while there are times that a slap on the butt may make your point there is no justification for spanking. I raised two children and never spanked them once. They just knew when they were not to do something by the tone in my voice. They both are raising great children without the need to do this. I have a friend that did believe in this and spanked hard at every opertunity...expecially to the middle child. He has been in and out of prison too many times to count. The others are doing fine I think but spanking did not do it for them. Children need to know they are loved and expected to be good. To inflict pain upon them when we as parents think they are bad is to forget what it was like to be a child. There is never ever an excuse for this.

I don't think that physical punishment in anyway is apropriate. When you're an adult are you punished that way, no so why when you're a child? Physical punishment is a temporary solution to a problem, fear makes the child not want to do something again but will eventually do the same thing when the affect wares off.