From parents yes, anyone else fuck no.

Touch my kids I'll be touching you.

There are other ways authority figures can teach discipline and respect.

I know that if I spank my kid

-how hard I'm doing it

-for what reason

My personal morales likely differ from others, so I can not trust others to do it for the reasons or using the same method I might choose to and how hard someone might spank.

For example, I would ONLY resort to spanking of my kids risked serious injury or death due to something they did.

Ie: run in front of a car.

Most other situations can be handled non violently, and differently depending on age.

Young kids, time out followed by a talk to explain why what they did was wrong, then teach them how to apologize when they do something wrong

Teens, take away privileges

Etc

Problem is these days with kids is that their parents didn't lead by example.

When parents are disrespectful, rude, etc, kids grow up mirroring that.

Their into the mix giving kids cell phones, public schools, pharma chemicals and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Spoiled children typically become spoiled adults. The lack of discipline has destroyed several generations of children and this has resulted in an accelerated decline of western culture. There is a fine line between abuse and corporal punishment, but the trick was to make everyone think that ANY corporal punishment was abuse. This is the great trick of manipulating language and terminology to enact deceptive change. If you spare the rod, you spoil the child isn't just an old saying, it was wisdom.

I saw a talk show a long time ago asking 'how do you tell a spanking from a beating?'.

My opinion: if you don't know the difference between the two, you should not hit your child.

when my kids - 3 boys - were small, a swat was usually in reaction to them doing something dangerous - outlets, stove, street. so a grab of the arm, swat on the butt with a loud NO sent a strong message. that worked sufficiently to toddler age, after which the punishment for wrongdoing was standing in the corner, no tv, no toys, no dessert. Any sass was greeted by a grab of the earlobe and physically brought to the corner. Punishment was handed out immediately - none of the 'wait till your father gets home' crap, making kids afraid of Dad.

Once they learned to obey when small, the necessity to physically punish was rare. It worked on all three boys, age difference of 8 years - now men....and they all admit that they deserved the punishments they received. The running joke is that their ear lobes are longer than anyone else's.

Anything that has its foundation in the Bible will be challenged. Spanking disobedient children is commanded, therefore the Anti-God crowd is opposed to it. Proverbs 13:24 He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly. Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him. Proverbs 23:13-14 Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell. Proverbs 29:15 The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

Proverbs 22:18

"Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."

So I basically trusted in Biblical discipline... "Spare the rod, spoil the child".

I had 5 children in the 80's and they knew the parameters of what was expected of them. I home schooled and we would all go grocery shopping, out to eat or wherever we needed to go and they were respectful and well behaved. We spent a great deal of time in church also and I never hesitated to go anywhere with them. People were always glad to have my children over.

I used a wooden spoon as my rod of discipline and while I think it was beneficial...none of my children spank their kids. My only regret is that I probably spanked in anger at times and that is wrong. So yes, I believe in corporal punishment but you have to spend time establishing the rules and then spend the time to explain what they did wrong and what the punishment would be and then how to correct the behavior. I think I could not have survived having 5 children if they behaved like most kids I see today...

I will add that as they got older most chose the path of rebellion against God and their parents many times...but you always hope you have given them a good foundation.

Kept me in-line and I turned out OK. My kids have actually thanked me because if I had not intervened, they said they did not know where they would be today.

Discipline begins at home, If a kid are bad at home, at the grocery store, at the park, it tells you a lot about the parenting or non parenting. Schools should be allowed to send a problem child home until they can act accordingly. Once the parent gets the idea that nobody else is going to take care of their little angel until they can act like a human and not an animal, they might give them a lesson in manners. Once a child gets in school, by the time a kid gets to the 6th grade, you know if they are college material. Very few are. The ones that are college level move on and the others go to trade schools. Jus me thinking!

The modern view is that spanking is violence. But in truth, spanking is a lesson to teach the consequences of pain. If a child never learns those lessons… they will grow up lacking wisdom. Pain and pleasure are the two main drivers of human decisions/actions. Without lessons in pain, their actions appear careless because they are. They never learned their lesson.

I was also spanked, though rarely, as a child. I spanked my own children, usually as a last resort or when they deliberately got on my last damn nerve. Again, a rare event. I spanked. I didn't beat them, but they knew they were being corrected for bad behavior and therefore it didn't happen often. They all turned out to be fine adults, they know what's right and act accordingly. I'd be in jail now no doubt for how they were disciplined.

In moderation, and when used to teach a specific lesson.

Too many people go overboard and just 'punish' - which is basically child abuse.

I once read that human's are hard-wired to learn fastest from physical pain - for obvious reasons, but be careful what lesson you are teaching!

My brother's kids weren't spanked and they aren't as you describe.

I was beaten on a regular basis by my Dad until I started fighting back at age 13. Anything I did wrong, in his eyes, was met with some form of violence, backhands, slaps, kicks, the belt and any combination of those. Did I deserve some form of punishment for some of the things I did? Sometimes, sure, but, not to that level or frequency. It made me an angry child who didn't give a shit about much. I had a bad attitude, got into lots of fights and my schooling suffered badly. I had lots to reconcile as I grew into an adult. One thing that I vowed to do differently than my Dad was how I raised my children. I didn't want them to grow up with the emotional scars that I still carry.

Purely by chance, I came up with a system. If I caught them doing something they shouldn't be doing I would start counting to 3, very loudly. If I made it to 3, I would stomp over to where they were and put a stop to whatever they were up to. No violence, just shock and awe. If I had to do that 3 times in a day, they got a spanking, 3 swats on the bum, open hand and not very hard. They were little so, they had diapers or training pants on, a bit of padding. The spanking wasn't about imposing physical pain, it was an escalation of shock and awe. Then, they were sent to thier room to cry it off. When I heard no more crying I went to see if they were over it and if we could talk. If they were still upset I would close the door and wait until they were calm enough to reason with, as much as you can reason with a small child. I did my best to explain why they can't be doing those things and that I don't like punishing them. After our talk I always gave them a big hug and told them I loved them.

My youngest, the one that tested me the most, is 29 now and a well adjusted adult. So is his older brother. I didn't have to spank either one after age 4. Usually, a very loud,"ONE!!!!" would do the trick by then. So, yes, I believe in corporal punishment but, only as a last resort and within reason. An early start on discipline and consistency are the keys. Follow through with threats of discipline. But, always be kind and loving afterwards.

Sorry for the long post. My Dad died 2 months ago, my Mom 2 years ago and recently we have been cleaning out their house. A couple of days ago I found many of my old report cards my Mom had saved. They told a story, one I'm partly sharing now. Between that and this thread, it's hitting a nerve that I suppressed for a while.

Shouldn’t ever hit kids in the head

I know that people pretend that happiness isn't a choice.

But in the military, where bad morale gets people killed, you can get whipped for bad morale.

Suddenly everyone chooses to be in a good mood.

That is way I support public floggings and executions.

Amen! Solomon has lots to say about corporal punishment in Proverbs.

My adult son is respectful, worships God in church, hard working, obedient, and an all round great person to be with. I never once spanked him. I used alternative forms of discipline to keep him in line.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." - Psalm 23:4

My God has never used his rod to beat me. He's guided me and comforted me. And that's the way I raised my son. I guided him and comforted him. I would use a stern "NO", and make him face the penalties of his decisions. But I never once hit him. Discipline is so much more than spanking.

You can spank a kid, it doesn't mean you've disciplined or guided him.

What's wrong with ignoring authority and disregard for the laws of man?

We need more of that.

No. It's very counterproductive.

I don't like it. But I cannot deny it's effective.

If I ever have kids and I have to do this, I'm going to HATE it.

But it works. Against my heart and soul, it works.

Our eldest, when very young, was spanked a few times until we disovered the "time out" method. After that, none of them was spanked.

Our kids are now responsible adults. They don't smoke and drink only in moderation. They don't do drugs. They each earn a good living and have a family.

So in my opinion, corporal punishment is unnecessary. Obviously other children could be satan's spawn and require frequent beatings. I can't speak for them.

Mom hung a 2' wooden paddle in the kitchen like it was for making butter. She even got Susie Homemaker with it and painted it blue & stenciled a duck on it.... you know for that farmers flair.
As a kid I was scared of it, but as I became a teen, I would laugh and take the swings or grab it out of her hand.

I think corporal punishment is appropriate. But the problems that can come with it arise when parents don't rebuild their children after breaking them down. I wholeheartedly believe the family should break the individual down before Society does but also build them back up. Without that build up strength from your family, it's all harder to deal with.

I don't like the term "'corporal punishment." Too formal. I like "spanking", because it has an expiration date of about five. At about that age, kids are too big to be spanked, and parents should move on to consequences as the pain they need to be dishing out. Consequences can be anything that the child won't like, such as more work or chores, or forgoing an event or fun activity. Consequences can continue up to college age, IMHO.

Hit the nail on the head with those spoiled brat traits list. I was shopping the other day with my mom and we went to the toy section to pick out some nice toys for a little raffle her work is doing. As soon as we entered that area of the store I could hear a young child crying and wailing like crazy. Not a baby, not even a toddler (I can forgive the really little kids for crying when they're uncomfortable, hungry, or tired) but a little boy of about 5 who just kept wailing and wailing, clearly throwing a tantrum that he wanted some toy.

No father in sight (of course), only the mother and her little daughter of about 7. I never once heard the mom give one word of reproach to her son, even to shush him. The boy just kept blaring and crying about a toy he wanted and I never even heard the mother speak up. The little girl was well behaved but that little boy clearly was not taken proper care of. All the mother eventually did was pick him up to carry him (instead of putting him in the cart) and they slowly walked away after letting him wail for over 10 minutes in the toy department.

If that had been me as a kid my mother, and definitely my father, would have dragged me off after less than 15 seconds of crying to another part of the store to cool me off, reprimand me, or just leave the store entirely. This mother, however, somehow thought that ignoring her child was the best way to get him to stop. Clearly it wasn't working because he was still screaming loud and strong after more than 10 minutes. I understand that a child will throw a tantrum to get attention sometimes so ignoring their outbursts is often the right course of action, but clearly this boy was screaming because he wanted a toy, not attention.

Schoolteachers used to hand out beatings when I was a kid, although they are not allowed ot do it any more. Problem was they hit children in the most convenient place which for a typical-sized adult is head-height for a child. Young children have thin skulls and there were a few "accidents" which forced them to stop.

If you like spankings then maybe you would like Indonesia. The largest Muslim population in the world and they regularly have public whippings.