Should parents spank their children???

A reasonable and appropriate spanking (not out of anger) is acceptable, and probably a good strategy. a spanking should always be followed with an affirmation of your love for the child and a discussion over what they did wrong.

Time out is rather ineffective (especially in today's world).

Spanking a very young child is not effective either, as they usually cannot associate it with the fact that they did something wrong, and to them it just means that mommy or daddy is hurting them. You can discipline a young child, however, by redirecting bad behavior to better behavior and calmly telling them "no". They will eventually know that hitting or biting or whatever is not ok. I do think that spanking right off the bat is not the right way to do it, but that if a child is told numerous times "no", shows that they understand that they should not do something, and then does it anyway, a spanking is warranted. VERY young children (birth-1 year) do not do well at all with this kind of discipline, but 1 year and older, time outs seem to work well. My son who is not quite 2, understands the concept of time out so well, in fact, that when he threw a toy at his grandmother, and was told NO, he ran over and put himself in time out.

I will tell you that this is a personal issue and no one is right or wrong. Children are all so different what works for one, might not work for another. I agree with it when it is necessary. I however can not belive that people would spank their kids in public. All that does is humiliate the child and make the parent look like a awful parent. I have 3 kids one has been spanked numerous times, one a few times, and one never. So it really depends. Good luck and remember it is your child no one can tell you want is best for them.

Spanking is only one form of discipline, and should be reserved for occasions when the child is endangering himself or others, like running into the street. God provided the gluteus maximus for this purpose, but be sure to support the body while spanking. And it should never be done when angry, as that will teach the child that you hit when you're angry. Tell the child what he did wrong, spank or slap deliberately, then hold and hug him. He needs to know you hate the behavior, but still love him. Be consistent. If an offense called for punishment last week, it should demand the same this week.

In addition to time-outs, taking away a favorite toy, grounding from TV, etc. work wonders.

personally I think spanking is only teaching the child aggression and that when your mad and someone did something wrong you can hurt them. Time out seems like the best method of disciplining a child along with talking and explaining what they did wrong after the time out. Of course not a lot of kids will necessarily be patient about time out. I think spanking can be ok to a degree if its only your hand that your using and not hard and doesn't leave a mark then I suppose its ok to use every so often instead of time out. If the child is an infant or very young and doesn't even understand what they are doing is wrong the best thing to do is to ignore them and not give them attention when they do whats wrong. for example if the kid hits another kid instead of yelling at them pay more attention of the hurt child and make them feel better. Also to avoid confict its always good to give children choices to make them feel more adult like. such as if a child is watching tv but they have to go to bed. you could tell them they can either turn the tv off and go to be or they can watch tv for 10 more minutes then go to bed.

I agree spanking is a good idea but with limits. I was not spanked as a child but more beaten. I think a spanking of 2-3 swats is plenty. I mean I have 2 kids that are 13 & 18. They were spanked as kids and would still be now if they needed it. I wont never forget the oldest one was being mean to her little brother when she was about 7 and shutting his hands in a drawer not bad but enough to make him notice and to cry. Well Dad took his belt and swated her like 3 times and not hard. SHe went into the bathroom stood on the commude and looked into the mirro and wanted me to look at the one little red spot. I laughed when I walked away. Trust me this was just enough to make her notice it. The spot was gone in 5 minutes it was a tiny pink one. She thougth she had been killed and she did not need another one for years. lol

Good Luck

I was spanked as child and it does work but do you want your children to mind out of fear of being hit or out of respect to you as a parent? I feared my father until about age 15. I won't rule out spanking of my children, but I would like it to be a last resort. Some children are tender hearted and will mind just by raising your voice a little. I think it depends on what the child that was wrong and how stubborn they react to discipline.

I have never found spanking to be "necessary". If you don't have the intelligence to parent effectively without having to hit then why parent at all...Apes hit their offspring...as a human I am just a tiny bit more intelligent than an ape. All hitting a child teaches is fear, and eventually resentment. Time outs worked very well when my daughter was young. But again...I had the intelligence to parent effectively. I guess some people don't and find it necessary to hit.

I think this topic is something that parents themselves have to decide on but its a great question. I spank my daughter when she has been naughty. It starts with a slap on the hand and if she continues too do it i spank her. THe thing that annoys me is when other people tell you how to raise your child. I was spanked as a child and i turned out ok. its the only way to control kids these days, unfortuntely.

Much more fun to spank other peoples' children when the parents aren't looking!!!

Only joking! have never done this and would never condone other people to do this.

However I was spanked as a child, went to a very strict boarding school, where the cane was used frequently, smacked my own children when necessary, and they have grown up and do the same to their children.

Moderation is the key!