When your kids commit mistakes, do you spank them?

I never spanked my children and they grew up wonderful. I was reading an article yesterday that stated that the more educated parents do not spank as much as non-educated parents. I had never thought about it before, but since I read that article, I can see it. People who are more educated have a tendency to have more books and educational materials around the house for the children. They grow up understanding a lot more at an earlier age. I always just figured I do not want to get hit for making a mistake. I am human, and I make mistakes. I refuse to let anyone hit me for my mistakes. I won't hit my kids for theirs. Many people want their kids to act like adults, take responsibility for a lot of things. I always thought that the time span for being a child is very short. I think kids should act like kids for as long as possible. They have plenty of time to be adults, and once a child loses the innocence and magic they can never get it back. My kids were very well behaved because they learned at a young age what I expected in my household. I respected my children, so they respected me. I gave them the opportunity to learn about things on their own, even though I was there to help. I tried never to hold them back, and I tried to give them the chance to experience their interests. I think they appreciated that. Kids are people too.

I never spanked my son and he is now a wonderful man of fifty'doing well in his job as a computer programmer.Iused taking away priveleges, standingin the corner, and time out to go good advantage.

I never spanked at all. i used time outs, lectures, and no tv for a certain lenght of time. My son turned out to be a well balanced adult and a joy to me his mom. I do not believe in spanking as its just a power play to me and makes kids angry and does not help in any way, shape, or form. no spanking.

well..i would not suggest spanking normally for any simple things like being noisy or naughty (i dont do that with my daughter), of course the parents do that in order the discipline them, but in case a child is so very adament and unruly, then spanking them does help, but that should never be done by both the parents, either one of them has to do it, if the mother spanks, the child must run to its father for protection, in that case, the child gets some sort of an emotional support with the spanking, the father can make him understand that it is for his good and explain the mistakes done by him, but when both the parents try to be harsh with their kid, that would defntly lead to serious trouble, the child would only get worse more and more instead of getting disciplined...personally, i have seen many children getting more arrogant than before because of severe spankings...a lovable approach could work wonders though the parents have to put in a lot of effort that way

I only spanked my eight children when they were between the ages of 1-3 and only when what they were doing would cause them harm. (example: running in the street, going near a hot stove or trying to put their finger in the light socket.) When the child was 3 I no longer spanked. Instead, I tried to make the punishment fit the crime. For instance, in your example of not completing their school assignments because they were watching tv, I would take their tv privleges away. When the children had a dispute, I sometimes held court. They could state their case and supply witnesses and then a decision would be made. Spanking rarely disuades a child older than 3 from making mistakes. What they learn from it is that hitting is appropriate behavior. Eventually, they will ignore the spankings and they won't have an affect at all.

I understand that spanking has always been a part of disciplining a child, maybe its not the first resort as there are a lot of ways like talking to them, time outs, hold some priveleges but then when these forms arenot effective and child keeps commiting mistakes especially if its through the influence of bad friends, then maybe we have to spank them on case to case basis. But they must understand afterwards why they had been spanked

Well I must say I also grew up to a disciplinarian family being my father to more strict than my mother. I can still remember when my father will whip me with his belt everytime I get home past 6 pm. Then came high school/college years, where he'll lock me out when I came home past 11 pm. He's not the talkative type and he usually do things without explanation so I grew up not fully understanding the whole concept of punishment. Now that I have my own family, I now know why he's doing it. But still, its a bit harsh tho. He should have at least explained to me why he's punishing me. I don't have a child yet but if ever my child committed a mistake, I won't just punish him/her right away. I have a long patience and I usually give warnings and reminders.

Hi.I also came from a disciplinarian family,and I thank my mom for actually punishing me or spanking once in awhile cause I was really a big headache when I was young =).It really depends on once personality,children are not all the same,some are very nice and some are naughty...You just have to tell them why you punished or spanked them,elaborate the consequences of there actions...

I was spanked as a young child but as i got older and my parents figured out that it wasn't working they started using things to hit me with. i used to get hit by kitchen spoons, and even a metal hanger once. this is why i don't agree with spanking kids. I didn't learn anything from it and i was a very violent child. i think it just teaches violence.

i dont have kids yet, but i think im a spanker