[karibear]

It depends on a number of things. I had a friend who was a grade school teacher in a school that allowed paddling with the parents' permission. Once she did that, followed all the rules about having a witness, having the signed approval forms, etc, and the parents had told her at the beginning of the school year to be sure to enforce discipline, yadda yadda. What they didn't bother to say was that hemophilia ran in the family and the child in question was an easy bleeder. A couple wacks with the paddle, and he was so bruised he looked like he'd been in a car wreck! There was no legal action, but there was an internal investigation by the school board. They finally decided it was ultimately the parents' fault for not having ever told anyone about the family medical history.

[colleeng47]

I still contend that no one has the right to raise a hand to a child. I come from a family that NEVER spanked. With three siblings, two children of my own, 9 nieces and nephew, and 6 great-nieces and nephews, we've never had a child who "needed" a spanking. Among all those people there has been no jail time, no drugs, no crimes. And -- no spankings.

[HeatherDawn]

I can appreciate the right of parents to discipline however they want (obvious misconduct excluded) but spankings never traumatized me and they did teach me respect. I used to keep the little kids at church and I could always tell right away who got spankings and who didn't. I just don't feel like time out gives a parent the same leverage that a spanking does.

[TimC2462]

Corporal punishment can be effective... but I think it should be used as a last resort after all other methods of discipline has been exhausted. I've had my share of being spanked, mostly justified. But there are instances when parents or teachers can really emotional and spank out of anger.

Mr. Goodpasture, you impressed me with your reference to dog training and positive reinforcement.

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by HeatherDawn

I can appreciate the right of parents to discipline however they want (obvious misconduct excluded) but spankings never traumatized me and they did teach me respect. I used to keep the little kids at church and I could always tell right away who got spankings and who didn't. I just don't feel like time out gives a parent the same leverage that a spanking does.

You could never guess with my kids. Every teacher they ever had remarked on how well behaved they were. I still think it's NEVER necessary to raise a hand to a child. If you have to resort to hitting, you've lost control. And I think that works against teaching a child respect.

[karibear]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

You could never guess with my kids. Every teacher they ever had remarked on how well behaved they were. I still think it's NEVER necessary to raise a hand to a child. If you have to resort to hitting, you've lost control. And I think that works against teaching a child respect.

I don't recall ever spanking my kids, at least once they got past the testing stages of the terrible twos/threes. But I also don't consider a quick swat on the backside at that age to be a real spanking either, it's just a way to get their attention - especially when what they want to do is something that might end up in them being hurt or killed.

[HeatherDawn]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

If you have to resort to hitting, you've lost control.

Disagree.

[karibear]

Originally Posted by HeatherDawn

Disagree.

You don't train an animal by hitting it, why should children be different? Children are infinitely more important than animals.

[LadyRobyn]

Just a quick note... This is a very old thread that was resurrected by a one time poster who seems to have a *fascination* with spanking... Adults and Children... http://www.city-data.com/forum/relat...iscipline.html

We all have different Parenting techniques and we have all managed to raise some pretty darn good kids!

[HeatherDawn]

Originally Posted by karibear

You don't train an animal by hitting it, why should children be different? Children are infinitely more important than animals.

Some people do train animals by hitting them, and, quite effectively. Take a horse for instance. It bites me and I whack it in the head. Know why? Because that's what the leader in a herd would do. It's something they understand.

Anyway, children ARE different than animals so I don't think we can compare apples and oranges here.