I concur

Being spanked as a child you learn your lesson
but beating (like having bruises from it and stuff) isnt right, but there IS a difference.

Well, about 30% of adults who abuse their children were abused themselves as kids.

"Abuse" and "spanking" are not nearly the same thing. We're not talking about abuse here.

I guess I support it, to a certain degree. I've been disciplined that way and I do resent it for obvious reasons, but I definitely learned more than simple "reward and punishment". This is only because my parents rarely spanked out of anger and made sure I understood the reason why I was punished. And when a spanking is done with a conscious intent of discipline and a tight grasp on one's emotions, it doesn't go as far as abuse. A lot of people are adverse to spanking because they think it's physical abuse, when in fact, it is not violent.

Honestly, there was a time when I prefered the belt rather than to hear the things my Dad yelled at me. I think it's easier to control what you do in anger than to control what you say in anger. It's funny how some parents gloat that they never raised their hands to their children and think they are good parents. Verbal abuse is worse sometimes, and it is certainly longer lasting.

Yeah, but a small percent of those who do spank leads yo abuse.

A small percentage of people who drink milk end up abusing their kids, too.

Well let me ask you, what benefit will someone achieve by spanking?
Also, I'd like to edit that I meant there is a correlation between spanking and abuse.

haha. nice.

It's a method of teaching children discipline.

But don't you believe there is a more appropriate way of disciplining children?

it might... but i think u might feel better (just for that moment though)

Maybe. What might you suggest?

It would depend on the situation. For instance, if it was punishment, I would rather take away his/her toys or such and let them vent out there temper in a pillow room or I, for one, am not very fond of spoiling the child, yet having a cruel punishment as well.

I'm going to go out on a limb and be honest and say that I don't really care much about this debate at all, because I don't find it to be very important or interesting in the least. I just get tired of seeing wild, unsourced claims and unsupported "evidence" in the Debate forum.

Depends on the child, not every one of them will respond to that approach the way you'd think. Take me for example. I didn't have toys because my family was poor and I was unruly for a time... fighting, cursing, and even stealing. What kind of punishment would you have set for me as my parent?

Ah, my uncle actually tried that with me once and just put me in a room to throw a temper tantrum at the wall... Guess what? I build up enough stress and anger to almost get expelled from school. It's better to talk to the child and see if you can help calm the temper, then punish, than to let him/her off by yelling at a pillow. That's just me. How was the problem solved for me? A long talk with Mom and Dad's belt. Actually, I have not used foul language for no reason since then—which is a long time ago.

There are good and bad sides to all disciplinary approaches... in my opinion, because everyone is so different. Whether or not one way is more "appropriate" than another depends on the child.

Maybe I'm a bit biased on this argument, but the only support needed is a firsthand account on an out-of-control kid in a supermarket.

"Billy, be quiet or you'll go in time out!"
-->screaming continues<--

Right...

"Want me to give you something to cry about?!"
"No ma'am."

Exactly.

I don't have a problem with firsthand testimony, but there are a lot of statements thrown around in this forum like "Experts say..." or "I read that..." which are followed by no source whatsoever.

I don't mean to point fingers, but in this specific thread there was a comment that there was a correlation between spanking and child abuse, which caught my attention for two key reasons:

1. First of all, correlation does not indicate causation. For example, take this statement: "A high number of murderers drank milk as children." That shows a correlation between drinking milk and murdering people. However, clearly drinking milk does not cause murder. Point: one cannot draw conclusions of causation merely from statements of correlation.
2. The statement regarding correlation was not sourced. I'm not saying it's wrong, but in a debate, it would be nice to have the source handy so it can be examined.

ppl need to remember that not every case is the same. My parents use to spank me and my siblings (among other things) but, while it had a mild effect on my self and my older sister, my younger siblings are still very unruly. There are many different scenarios which decide whether or not spanking solves aything. Trying to find an ultimate answer on this topic is stupid

I bit the word correlation was a bit vague. What I meant to say was that spanking is a physical punishment is as the same for abuse. Now, I'm not saying that people who spank their kids will eventually abuse them, just that spanking and abuse have more of a similiar "path" then milk and abuse.

Here is a source I found on spanking. http://www.religioustolerance.org/spankin5.htm

I don't think it's so much a causation rather than it can easily lead up to abuse. Once a parent gets used to physically punishing their child, it can get out of hand, and sometimes they don't know when it's too far. It doesn't cause it necessarily, but can easily lead up to it.

Citing B.F. Skinner now,

physical punishment is not effective in erasing the bad behavior, but it is effective for supressing the bad behavior. The father will spank, the son will stop swearing, but only stop swearing in front of the parents. The son, in effect from the punishment (spanking), actually learns to not swear in front of parents, but will swear when it is safe (no parents around).

So what is the definition of solving in this debate? The child will be good only when you or an authority is around or the child learns that bad behavior is bad and knows it shouldn't be done?

=S

If my mother tells me not to do something; at 18 years old, I don't do it behind her back. Why? Because she taught me better than that. And what taught me? A belt/switch/sandal/etc.

Ditto.

I think it does.
I got spanked when I was little and I'm pretty sure I didn't do the same crime twice.

Not many people spank their children as much as they used to though...

Yeah there's grounding or simply lectures or non-violent punishments. But that never works. Because the child knows nothing will happen to him/her except get stuck in the house, which is a very very lame punishment if you ask me. There's a reason why detention never works with a bunch of kids.


My parents don't do this anymore, but they used to hit me with the belt, if not belt they'll slap me. From this I learned never to do anything wrong again......



until I turned 12 when they stopped.