[Ted_Foster]

I do believe in corporal punishment for children; spare the rod, spoil the child as the saying goes. I'm hesitant about it at school, but I wouldn't rule it out.

My mother used a rubber kitchen spatula if any of us got too far out of line. That thing can really sting, and so I didn't get into much trouble. I still remember it today.

[techienomad]

Originally Posted by mkfarnam

There were other punishments, like wearing a dunce cap, standing with your nose in the corner and (no offense GP) writing you were sorry, one hundred times on the chalk board. Our teacher made us sweep the floor ,clean the bathroom or take out the trash.
But these day, if you ever sign a waive, that would be the same a giving up the right to know what type of punishment was given, and believe me, they would have a disclaimer on there.

Yes, we had the full scope of discipline back 20 years ago. They would send us on trash detail with the janitors after school (so detention, but trash with it), stand in the corner, stand at your desk while everyone else is sitting, paddling (the paddle was called the whistler), and the big one sitting on the bench during recess. I remember I was on the verge of getting paddled. They called my dad and he told the principal to make sure he gets me on both cheeks. It was definitely a deterrent, but there were many other forms of discipline. However, the most wide spread use of discipline was to just tell our parents and they would go home and spank us!

[JoyFrenzy]

I graduated high school 5 years ago and I don't remember anyone taking paddling seriously. It was just a joke. I think if you can make paddling actually mean something to the students then sure, do it. But maybe something more serious should be implemented. Like making the kids clean the campus for an hour after school or something.

[TXCowboy010]

I'm OK with a certain amount of physical punishment under certain circumstances but I would not trust a teacher to lay a hand or paddle or anything on my child. Nowadays you don't know what kind of whackos (pardon the pun LOL) are out there and what they might do.

I think school paddling probably had its place back in the day of the one room schoolhouse or in small towns where everyone knew each other and all the parents knew all the trachers. But nowadays there's too much uncertainty about who is out there.

If the teacher calls to tell me that my son is in trouble that's fine but he/she better not lay a hand on him without my permission. Since they won't get my permission I would give the whuppin myself at home if I thought that it was called for.

[Hurrah]

I do not believe paddling should be done by anyone but a parent because it is the parents that are responsible for disciplining and raising their children.

From my personal experience it worked wonders. I remember being spanked by my Dad (once). That was all it took and remembering the incident definitely kept me in line. When I was in elementary school, if you talked in class or misbehaved you were told to stand outside the classroom door (in the hall) where you stood until the Principal came by and asked what you had done. Once he spoke to you, you were allowed back in class. I kinda doubt that sort of thing would work today though. That worked for me because my greatest fear was that my parents would be told I misbehaved and ultimately I might get spanked. In the end, I believe it all comes down to how much respect a child has for obeying their parents.

We only had to paddle my older daughter once (when she was young, but old enough to know better). That was the ONLY time we had to do that. As for my second child, I don't even remember EVER having to paddle her, but I'm sure if we did it wasn't often. I believe that the point of paddling should be so that you don't have to do it again.

I have a friend whose son would never listen. There was no punishment that would deter this boy. One day, in total frustration, after her son had once again misbehaved, she told him to 'hug the wall'. He had to stand in that position for a while and for some reason that punishment was the answer. It worked wonders. Also, when he had taken money from her purse without asking, she brought him to the police and asked them to show him what happens to criminals. I think they held him in a jail cell for a little bit. (This probably happened before the 'hug the wall' incident.

I gotta say though, I see more problems from the kids who get 'time outs' than those who were 'paddled'. Is there a correlation?

[Mattie Jo]

I vote no.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by Hurrah

I gotta say though, I see more problems from the kids who get 'time outs' than those who were 'paddled'. Is there a correlation?

I recall a couple of kids who were given time outs by their mom.......they had to stay in their room for an hour. Of course the room had a TV, a VCR, a couple hundred video games.........some "time out," eh?

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

I recall a couple of kids who were given time outs by their mom.......they had to stay in their room for an hour. Of course the room had a TV, a VCR, a couple hundred video games.........some "time out," eh?

Thank God I was blessed with two well behaved children. I never spanked, and I rarely did the "time out" thing. However, when they were very young, I pretty much made sure they weren't expected to behave well when they were tired, hungry or overexcited. In those instances, we usually stayed home rather than try to discipline a hungry, tired child in public. At the terrible two stage we did the one stays home with the little darling while the other one shopped.

At home they were somewhat well behaved, allowing for their immaturity, and were easily distracted with toys or books. We didn't have TV when they were little.

[yensid]

I just saw this post for the first time. My answer would be....

hell no! No one touches my child!

Also, Goodpasture made some good points and one of which was about kids growing up to be hitters if they were spanked. Doesn't take a genius to see the message in spanking ...someone does something wrong, you hit them. I was spanked many times to the point where, in 5th grade, my Dad came to the school to spank me for something....and I just gave him a dirty look and walked out. It only made me resentful. AND...I got suspended as a freshman in high school for getting in a fight with a boy (yes, I am female), which I started by hitting him. Think I hit about 4 other boys through the rest of high school.

[TU 'cane]

Kids need some sort of discipline these days. Parent's obviously aren't doing their jobs (not saying any of you aren't so don't take it personal).