My thoughts on Spanking

Personally I am not a huge believer in spanking kids as an acceptable form of punishment. I was only spanked once as a kid and I know a couple people who were spanked but in my opinion it doesn’t solve the problem. The only time I was spanked by father was when I was being extremely stubborn and wasn’t following my parent’s orders after being told countless times that I needed to act fast. I never thought back on that situation and thought I better act correctly or otherwise I’d be hit. It never crossed my mind and it was never a threat by my parents and I like to think I turned out pretty well.

            One reason I am against the idea is I believe kids will act certain ways regardless of whether they will get in trouble or not. In your example you claimed that your brothers wanted to test the water and didn’t care if they got spanked or not, at that point I don’t think giving a spanking is much of a punishment. For them it was a game of chicken. For some people fear might work but that’s at the discretion of the parents and spanking shouldn’t always be used as a punishment. Hopefully not in many situations but starting could be the first the step in child abuse. Not everyone with a kid is fit for parenting and sometimes people may use “punishment” as a way to release anger. I feel a better way is to take away something that the child loves. Pain is only temporary and a child can become numb to it over time and treat it as a game.

            When dealing with cursing or swearing among children I don’t feel that using soap to “clean” out ones mouth is as bad as spanking a child. I was never forced to wash out my mouth with soap but at a young age it can set a better president without harming the child. In the end I think it is up to the character of the child and they will act certain ways regardless of the punishment but dealing with children should be done a one by one basis. I feel like school systems should abolish the ability to discipline children in such a way as it should be up to the parents on how to discipline children. If I heard that my child was spanked at school I would be very upset and demand a change. Corporal punishment is a grey area but as someone who was rarely spanked as a child I don’t feel it is the best way to correct bad habits.