I love how this thread assumes you can either punish your children by beating them, or do absolutely nothing when they do something wrong. As if punishment outside of physically hitting them doesn't exist.

Being a father of two (ages 4 & 1) I have on rare occasion hand slapped my older son on his bottom through clothing, not a traditional bend over spanking as that connotation is too far and sort of degrading in my opinion. My wife and I agree with the same measures and both communicate constantly to create a universal standard of expectations, morals, reprimands and consequences. I'm not for or against physical punishment per se but when children are growing and learning the boundaries they will cross them many times on purpose and we feel it necessary to give a firm butt slap on rare occasion. We generally prefer the naughty spot, with apologises and discussion of why they went there in the first place. I could count the total lifetime butt slaps for my son on less than my 10 fingers in his 4 years so far. It worked for my brother, sister and I (we received wooden spoon on the bum and slaps too growing up), it worked for my parents (had it more physical and impacting), my grandparents (had it from teachers with canes or belts and far worse physical impacts) and my great grandparents (beyond acceptable laws these days in Australia). I respect my parents, parental methods and results they achieved with my siblings and myself. I will do well with my children to raise them half as well as my parents or grand parents did. Overall when I compare my children's behaviour to my friends and family, who do not choose to "physically discipline" their children at all, I see a marked difference in their effectiveness and their children's acceptable behaviour too. I'd rather be a little too harsh with my children for their long term growth and character benefits than too relaxed and raise lazy know-it-alls thanks. There is already far too much of that in the modern generations, IMO. It's all subjective and should be left to parents within acceptable societal and cultural parameters. There should never be anything along the lines of abuse but reversely parenting should not be the too relaxed whatever type attitude either. No parent ever had to get a license or take a course for their skills and yet we have to get a license to drive a car or agree to contractual terms for many other aspects of our lives. There is no universal rule-set to raising children.

Agreed Kids that were spanked > Kids that weren't

Hello thread from 3 weeks ago.

Yep, my parents did it right. Made me know exactly what I did wrong and taught me respect. Spanking is the way to go.

That's fine, raise your kids however you want. However they turn out will be your fault. Parents tend to take credit when their kids are successful and blame other things when they're not.

I hope I never punish my children in a way that involves violent physical contact. I'd rather have their respect than their fear. Read "To Kill A Mockingbird" and know how a real man treats his children.

physical abuse doesn't teach that the action is wrong it teaches the action is wrong in your presence. It also teaches action X = beating. This is likely not what you want to teach. As this is mostly untrue, the world doesn't often punish crime with physical abuse and many think this is because we have moved on from physical abuse. My biggest issue is that if you can't explain why something is wrong than perhaps the action isn't wrong at all and you are in no position to push your authority on another. If your child is to young to explain why it is wrong than they are likely too young to understand the concepts of right and wrong and thus using any kind of abuse to teach children is nothing short of indoctrination. This stops morals from developing. To assume you can teach your morals to a child is fine, however teaching through explanation of wrong allows the child to willingly agree and hold better morals for it or choose to deny and the world can move on morally. the role of a parent is not to enforce their morals but best prepare heir child for a world where they can have their own morals, in the hope,they will be better than yours.

I know your point and I shall consider it. [b][i]Processing...[/i][/b]

Spanking is what it is so long as its not the goto response, uncontrolled, and abusive. It's the parents that shake their kids that scare the crap out of me. Especially when they are young toddlers.

A spanking is a sacred part of every kid's childhood. It teaches them some discipline.

Or both groups could shut up and let people raise their kids how they see fit, within reason.

I was only spanked once. And only lightly. I don't have a problem with spanking, long as it's not the go-to punishment and they're not beating the crap out of their kids.

People in the past also put hydrogen in zeppelins, and that went swimmingly!

iI don't agree with that way of punishment, but I will say, its necessary when dealing with certain issues, and only to be done till they reach a certain age. When they reach a certain age, taking away privileges are better ways of teaching, but even when their at a certain age, they have already developed a personality and way of thought. At this age it is very hard to change them, but if you raised them well and taught them the better principles of life and such, they should turn out fine, but if you don't teach them much at a young age, there is possibility they would learn subdue much faster to peer pressure and negative teachings, of their peers. Through this,later they will turn even worse if not dealt with in anyway.

Hitting people is a lazy, stupid (as in the person, not just as a generic bad adjective), cruel way to parent. If you spank your kids, you're either incredibly lazy or you're an asshole in that respect. There is never a situation which warrants a spanking. Never.

Some kids need to be spanked. Some don't. It's up to the parents to make that decision. I faintly remember being threatened with spanking a few times in my childhood. I do not remember it ever actually happening, but I do know that it was not an empty threat, just a last resort. My reaction always saved me: I realized at the point that spanking was mentioned that I had to back off, be contrite, and avoid the behavior in the future. It didn't always take the threat of spanking to get me to shape up, in fact it rarely did. A lot of kids, however, do not understand. (Not trying to sound like I was some perfect kid, I was plenty stubborn in my pre-teen days.) Human beings, least of all children, aren't angels or gods. Sometimes we're stupid and simplistic. Sometimes we need to feel pain to understand. It's not a light duty for a parent. But it is a duty to discern what is needed for the greatest possible good.

I was spanked as a child, and let me tell you I never did that crap again that got me spanked. When I have kids if nothing else works I will spank them. Nothing wrong with it at all.