To spank or not to spank?

I am a parent, with a fifteen year old daughter and a nine yeard old daughter, along with a 19 yr. old stepson, and fifteen yr. old step-daughter. Understand that I will not claim to know all, and then state I do not have children. That is about as bad as having a woman teach a Divorce class about how to treat your children, and the turn around and say she has none...(this has happened to me and I got up and walked out. First, all children are different, and must be considered so. But... There is a time to get their butts, and if you don't then authority in your own house is lost, as they see you as weak and not willing to enforce the rules you have set down. I truly despise folks who do not understand that force is needed as a loving response when discipling your children, as it sets boundaries that they are to follow or consequences are paid. Life is not fair, and any fool who teaches their children that it is; is doing them a disservice. If you steal, then aren't there consequences? If you lie, should there not be consequences? If you break the rules of my house, then should there not be consequneces? I do not advocate smacking your child anywhere but on the bottom, except in cases where the mouth overloaded the a** when back-talking, of which I will not abide, and sometimes...it doesn't hurt for a child to know what Ivory soap tastes like. New Age, IRS's religion Scientology, and other ignorant social ideologies have sapped many parents of their will to actually teach their own children right from wrong, and allow the Public School (Fool) system to supplant them as parents. I wish for this to not be so, but fear that posts such as on another discussion I responded to about this very same topic, will continue until parents finally take control of their children once again as described in Natural law. You posters seem to show some common sense and I applaud you. Think about it for just one moment, please...Did your grandparents turn out so terribly bad? Food for thought. Freedomrox

Spanking is right, but it must be absolutely NOT a violent or a frequent action. If I spank my child too violently i can cause a trauma, if i do it too frequently he will probably hate me soon, and the action itself become insignificant to him, causing me the impossibility to have a clear relation with him.

I have actually struggled with this question. Does spanking a child teach them that violence can be okay? On the other hand, a swat on the butt can certainly get a child's attention sometimes. We do spank sometimes but very sparingly.

I agree - there's a fine line between discipline and beating your child. Any spanking should go along with an explanation to the child so they understand why they're being punished. More often then not the child will have learned his lesson and will remember the consequences of the action. Hope this helps!

i think spanking is right..i was spank as a child and i did listen to my parents it did not scar me in amyway....and when my daughter gets older when she does something wrong that she KNOWS she isnt suppsoe to do i will spank her to. ppl have been spanking their kids for as long as anyone can remember...i dont understand why all the sudden it is so bad. now there is a limit i dont belive in leaving any marks..just hard enough where they know they did something bad and need to take responsiblity for their actions.

It's illegal in most countries these days. I don't believe in spanking children as in hurting them but some kids are just so obnoxious and the parents have no control over them. I never spanked my own child but have to admit there have been times when I was very close to doing it a few times. I have however threatened spanking but I think that is just as bad, empty threats can scare the kid but if you don't carr on with the threat, the kids might think they can get away with anything. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone to spank their children. If they are out of control and you have tried talking to them calmly, tried everything else, then maybe there is need for some professional help.

spank him, whack him, squeeze him, and kiss em..... well thats what mothers do..... if u wanna have a good child with good cultures, spanking is a necessary option... there is no alternative for spanking..... when he deserves it give it to him..... but spanking and whackin is not the only process.... u should love(of course everyone does) ur child and the important part........ u should know how to show ur feelings to ur kid....... that develops him intellectually and emotionally. thats it for now.....

I think that an occasional slap on the bottom doesn't hurt a child. I don't agree with beating a child, but disciplining a child is an entirely different issue. I was spanked as a child and it didn't hurt me - it taught me never to repeat the offense. Too many children today run their households, not their parents. I think if they'd been given discipline when they were younger, this wouldn't be the case. Children know what they can and cannot get away with and push the issue.

I don't spank, so I don't agree with it. I was spanked as a child and I do remember it-and it makes me feel uncomfortable and ashamed. I don't want my children to feel this way so that's why I don't spank.

I have mixed feelings on spanking. I was spanked when I was a child and never felt abused or violated. The problem I have with spanking is we try and teach our children that hitting is bad and so forth and if we discipline them by hitting them, even though it isn't hard, we aren't doing a very good job of teaching them not to hit.

I was spanked as a child and I remember it. It was the worst thing ever at the time but it taught me lessons. So yes, I'm going to spank my kids too. If you are consistant and explain why they are being punished you really shouldn't have to spank them often once they get past 5.