People are going to do what people are going to do. The majority of Americans still believe in spanking. The research is unequivocal that it does not help and often makes problems worse.

I prefer to not strike my own flesh and blood.

I was a terrible kid and was spanked. I continued to be horribly behaved despite spankings.

I swore to myself no matter how badly behaved my kids were I wouldn't spank them. There are more options than time out or spanking. I use many different discipline strategies on my kids, and they change as the kids grow.

Oldest is 14, and so far, no spanking.

What lesson, specifically, are you trying to teach your kid?
How do you feel that spanking will teach it?

Popular response - no.
Unpopular response - possibly, yes.

This is not a popular view on this board, but I think yes, sometimes spanking is OK (with your hands, not objects). I believe in nipping bad behaviors in the bud, not waiting until they become a habit and a power struggle. I also believe that in this area oftentimes parents are afraid to parent or are afraid not to be their kid's friend, trying to verbally convince 19 mo old to do things is beyond child's ability to process. And eventually you get a little attorney, who will argue back and needs to be talked to into cooperating even on small and mundane actions. I am from a different culture so to me it's not a huge dilemma whether to spank and how to determine when is appropriate to spank. Of course how the kids will turn out is anybody's guess. But that's the case with everybody anyway.

Spanking is an easy way to temporarily stop bad behavior, but it does nothing to help a child learn to regulate behavior in the future.

There are many other ways to teach and guide so that the child can avoid bad behavior. Positive discipline, logical consequences, modeling good behavior, etc.

No, kids do not need to be spanked. And, IMO, kids do not need to be given time-outs. It sounds like, if you are having that many troubles, you need to try a more positive, loving parenting approach. I don't mean that to be condescending, but if you're using a punitive approach to working with your children it could backfire (i.e., just create more problems now and down the road).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear God, OP, I hope you are using "rod" figuratively.

Of course. Only my hand on a buttock and now only I response to being hit , spat on, or hit with an object throw at me in anger.

Are you American, OP?

Anonymous wrote:Dear God, OP, I hope you are using "rod" figuratively.

Of course. Only my hand on a buttock and now only I response to being hit , spat on, or hit with an object throw at me in anger.

Dear God, OP, I hope you are using "rod" figuratively.

While I have nothing against spanking per se, using a rod takes it to whole different level. Good luck to you and your kid.

Oh here we go. Just do what works for your kid, and ignore the naysayers. They are not parenting your kid.

I have two kids. With one, a stern voice works fine. With the other, nope, not even taking away privileges work sometimes.

No. No child needs to be beaten or spanked. It is the cheap and easy way out.

Here we go. Do some kids just need spankings? I have on wholly terror and have gone back and forth I the issue. I'm curious to hear from parents with 2 or more that may have one kid that needs a rod and the other who is good with time outs.