Should You Spank Your Child?

Bill Engvall sums it up much better than I can.

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No kids...therefor no skin in the game, but

FL/GA PLS., post: 454398, member: 379 wrote: If anything, getting an occasional (in my case frequent) ass whooping shaped me into a normal productive citizen.

Without having a second FL/GA PLS who was not spanked, how do you know this? Perhaps if you weren't spanked by now you would have found the cure for cancer, the answer to peace in the Middle East, and how to go back in time to stop Robert Kardashian from breeding.

Growing up I got a few and deserved many more. I am better for it. In an effort to 'pass it on' I tried to liberate my mother's board of education when we had our first. She expressed the sentiment that it had served its purpose. So I made my own.

The victims of the new board often lament the fact their peers in school and sports have no such device in their homes.

Steve

Got the belt round backside for something I never did. That hurt!
Didn't remember any others which I know I got so can only assume detrimental to my upbringing.
The 'cuts' at school was common as the sun rising and setting.
Not sure that did any good.
Imagine there would have been a better way to deal with situations.

Lots things have changed in society since those days that have led to where it is today.
A lot of words dropped out of use. People today wouldn't know what some of them meant if they saw them on a wall in front of them.
One could start a list....
Go on forever....

The old timers used to say 'the kids today aren't like in our days'
I would have been one of those 'kids', now I'm the old timer!

Re that quote. I can honestly say that's not true in my situation, thank goodness.
Things were pretty rebellious in my youthful days at times.
Must have had some sense whacked and instilled into me by my loving parents that eventually rubbed off or in or something!

Something just popped in to my head.

Do you guys/gals think Kent McMillan was ever subject to corporal punishment?

I vote yes.

Steve

James Fleming, post: 454401, member: 136 wrote: Perhaps if you weren't spanked by now you would have found the cure for cancer, the answer to peace in the Middle East,

Not me, I'd be dead or in prison.

NO.

James Fleming, post: 454401, member: 136 wrote:
Without having a second FL/GA PLS who was not spanked, how do you know this?

I've seen something of a control, though admittedly not over a life span. And I admit this is not a perfect comparison, but I think I can say that my anecdote is consistent with loving corporal punishment having positive effects.

We adopted our oldest daughter when she was four. For the previous year and a half, she had been in foster care--the last year of that with us. Honoring our agreement with the state, we used no corporal punishment during that time. But we did try most other things. That period was great because it made me learn things I never would have learned about other forms of discipline, so I'm actually very thankful for the restriction for that reason. But I will say this: Spanking started on the day of adoption. The positive change was remarkable.

I too had lots of spankings while growing up. I EARNED all but one, and I can understand why I got that one. There were a lot of windows (still in the frame) stored in an old barn on the farm. Almost all of them were broken by a BB gun and I usually had mine with me. I got blamed for it even though I didn't do it (I probably would have if I had found them). I've heard all the hype about "violence just begets more violence" when disciplining a child but I just don't believe it, I NEVER doubted that my parents loved me and were just trying to keep me out of more trouble. Please note that I am NOT talking about beating or abusing a child, I'm talking about a swift pop on the butt with a switch or belt.
I'm reminded of an old saying, "A pat on the back develops character, if applied young enough, low enough and hard enough".

I never once spanked my son. He's 19 now, a physics major at UC San Diego, and he's a totally nice guy. He played baseball all the way through high school, so he's seen a wide range of behavioral models in both kids and adults (i.e. he's nice because that's who he is, not because he's never seen any other way to be). I can't know if spanking him would have produced a different result, but for my family it was an easy decision and one I don't regret.

man, y'all are ate up with Kent McMillan.

My mom would beat the tar out of my brother's and my butt. My brother's butt was hard as an old oak tree and he wouldn't even flinch when being spanked. On the other hand my sensitive arse didn't like it. So I would not get the same amount of punishment. But I did get my share of them. I think I turned out fine. I also disciplined my kids with a paddle too. I tried several other options, but they just didn't work. They respect the board and sometimes need a reminder. There is a fine line between abuse and discipline. I could go on forever how too many highly educated or other types have tried to prove their point. I think the best option is to look at all of them and use what works for your children.

As my youngest Daughter is 34, I think it would not be appropriate. Each child and each parent is different, so one size does not fit all. It should always be a carefully measured last resort. If you are too mad to consider the child's best interest, you should not.

I was spanked as a kid, do not have kids of my own. I suspect my brother may have been spanked a time or two, but certainly not as often as I.

Would I have turned out differently if not spanked? Probably for the worse since there were actually consequences to my actions.

My brother has two kids (now very much adults). I doubt either of them were spanked. My brother and sister-in-law (from what I witnessed) were more along the lines of "talk it out". I don't know of my nephews getting in any serious trouble, I doubt as much as I did.

Spanking (not beating or abuse) teaches kids from a young age that actions have consequences, and negative actions therefore have negative consequences. Generally just the site of a wooden spoon was enough to make my sons check up; the actual application was rarely necessary.

I was spanked routinely at both home and school. All it did was give me a high threshold for pain, not much else. My baby brother could cry on command and took great glee in using his talents to get my butt whooped for making him cry. We still laugh about that, but at the time I nearly always followed up giving him a real reason to shed tears for his treachery.
No kids here but I guess it's like dropping the F bomb. To be saved for very special occasions when entirely appropriate and the transgression fresh and worthy, but otherwise to be avoided.

I wasn't and didn't, not against it, but didn't need to have it or do it.

There's no doubt in my mind some never require a swat. They're just genuinely very good natured. For the rest of us something has to be done to correct our attitude.

I read once that any discipline or reinforcement thereof is ineffective if not administered within the child's normal attention span. The author's rule-of-thumb for attention span was one minute for every year of age up to age twelve. If the punishment is administered after the this period the child did not effectively connect the punishment to the offense in their mind.

Sure, you can explain to 5 yr. old Johnny he was being grounded, spanked, etc. for behaving badly 10 minutes ago and he may even nod his head in agreement, but you will not create the 'reflex' aversion to the bad behavior.

After a couple years of limited effectiveness with most punishments for our oldest I held myself too the two minute principle at the time. Sometimes I had to act like nothing happened if I didn't get to him within two minutes, which was hard, but if I struck while the iron was hot I was almost sure he was cured.

Steve