'Is it ever OK to spank a child?'

Good piece here.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/07/is-it-ever-okay-to-spank-a-child/278174/

Spanking might scare children into stopping a behavior, but it does not get them to think rationally or want to cooperate. It also doesn't teach people how to manage big emotions or develop conflict skills. ... To this date, twenty-nine countries around the world have banned spanking in homes and schools. Canada and the U.S. are not one of those countries.

For the record, the wife and I don't spank. It was never a debate. It's never an option. I was spanked as a child - soundly. It did far more harm than good. I don't believe in it.

Discuss.

 

I was spanked ... it sure taught me not to do something twice. It had no lingering affect. I thought my parents did a great job of raising me. I am not a parent yet (soon to be). My wife wants an absolutely no-spanking policy, and I'll likely go along with that. I don't really feel strongly one way or the other, but I don't think spanked kids grow up to be murderers or anything like that.

 

Same here. I was spanked as a kid - not often, and usually because I lied to cover up a transgression, rather than for the transgression itself - and don't feel it did me any harm.

My son is only 15 months old, but I don't foresee myself and future wife spanking him. He'll be disciplined, all right, but I don't feel like I could bring myself to spank him.

I think it's probably like anything else when it comes to parenting - what works for some, won't work for others.

 

Agreed, especially on that last part.

I think it can be appropriate when they are young enough that communication is still an issue, but it gets to the point that it either doesn't help or does more harm than good as they get older. My little one just turned 10 and I think she is well past the age when it would be a useful or appropriate disciplinary measure.

Or I could have just posted my initial thought when I saw the thread title. We've had some ugly discussions on this subject in the past.


Unleash the hounds!

 

Hell, I spanked my cat.

 

I've never spanked mine.

 

I spank mine frequently.

 

You have a cat?

 

I suppose there's absolutely no chance that we can have this conversation without extensive anecdotal evidence, right?

 

Hope the link works: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=spanking&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C50&as_sdtp=

 

No, because anybody that claims there is only one right answer has no idea what he or she is talking about.

 

Even though I'm a perpetrator of the named crime here, I understand your point and largely agree with it. That said, I also am interested in hearing about people's approaches - and how they settled upon them.