Spare the rod, part II

More comments on spanking from the Parents Council blog:

“Every child is different as is every situation. My 8-year-old hasn’t had a spanking since she was maybe 3 or 4, and then it was just an attention-getter not a punishment. My 2-year-old probably receives at least one attention-getting swat a day. The spanking is used as a way to break her attention from the fit she’s throwing and get her to a point where I can talk with her. I can’t hold it against any parent who is trying to rein in an unruly child by giving them a swat.”

– Posted by Jason

“I’m always dismayed that even spanking advocates seem to equate corporal punishment with ‘control’ or changing kids’ behavior. I agree that if that is what parents are trying to do, then it too easily becomes just an extension of the verbal abuse that often surrounds it.

“But I am a firm advocate of spanking to teach children right and wrong. That is, to teach them things that are always wrong, not just inconvenient. But, since I almost never see examples of spanking done with this frame of mind (calm) and instead always see exasperated parents spanking because they are angry or embarrassed – I almost side with the politically-correct idiots who neither spank nor believe in right and wrong. In any case, I believe in a very short list of wrongs for which children should be punished if they transgress. And I think verbal punishment, when done wrong, is equally abhorrent and is similar to unjust corporal punishment.”

– Posted by PC

“My 25-year-old daughter remembers getting exactly one dose of corporal punishment as a child – at age 12. She told me to ‘shut up’ and I slapped her mouth. To this day neither she nor I believe that the situation should have been handled differently, it sent her a message that was loud and clear for extremely inappropriate behaviour on her part.”

– Posted by Gina

Join the conversation at spokesmanreview.com/ blogs/parents.