Where has corporal punishment gone??

i agree with you, all i needed was one spanking, and never again would i do whatever i did. now, my nephews do whatever the hell they want and they don't get spanked. that's why they're running wild these days.

It is NOT necessarily true that no corporal punishment = unruly kids and/or bad parenting. The same results can be accomplished by other methods. What works for us is Love & Logic - loveandlogic.com for more info.

Punishment is an older term - discipline and consequences (both good and bad) are newer ones. It's also true that in most cases, corporal punishment should not be administered after a certain age (some say 6, some earlier, some later). There's a reason why - many studies have been done on this.

I'm not stopping you from disagreeing - your situation may vary. But there are clear alternatives that work just as well or better. It depends entirely on the consistency and the parents and children in question.

I agree! Actually I am in a battle with my mother right now...who spanked me as a child/teenager as to whether my son should be spanked. To the point that we are not speaking!

At the same time there is a higher abuse rate now. It's a fine line between discipline and abuse...and knowing how to keep from crossing it. Some parents don't have the discipline in themselves to effectively use corporal punishment without hurting their children.

Wow I know there's no way I'm getting best answer for my response but here goes.

Yes corporal punishment has its place. Is it the end all solution you're making it out to be? No.

I'd say a lack of consistency and good parenting in general is the problem. Physical punishment is acutally the least effective form of punishment as its the easiest to build tolerance too, the most likely to build resentment, the least able to teach the critical thinking skills really needed that correct the problem and the most likely to be used improperly as corporal punishment is often done out of anger or as a last resort.

Also, every generation thinks that the generation below it is so much worse than they were.

Personally I prefered spankings to alternate forms of punishment. Whip me and send me on my way. :)

It has disappeared because of parents suing school districts and principals for administering spankings to their bratty kids. It also disappeared with the advent of secular humanist socialists (ACLU and John Dewey type educators) who removed the Bible and prayer out of the classroom because they think that making school more fun, will please the brats. They say that there aren't any discipline problems unless a teacher isn't capturing the children's attention with fun and games, thereby throwing out the "old fashioned ways" that worked for over 200 years in the classroom.

In the 1950's the main problems found in schools were:

talking, chewing gum, leaving trash on the floor, and dress code violations.

Now the main problems in classrooms are:

murder, rape, illegal drug use, teen-aged pregnancy, stealing, gang activity, etc.

Yet the present bunch of state and federal educational administrators blame teachers for all the wrongs instead of placing the blame on parents who won't control their kids at home or school and a system that has deviated greatly from its beginning. Most of the forefathers wrote and stated that education without the Bible isn't education. The vast majority of schools were started so children could learn to read the Bible, which was the main textbook in the classrooms. Harvard was started as a divinity school to produce ministers, yet it is far from that now.

You can thank John Dewey et al, as well as the ACLU for the mess that we presently have. Their idea now is to build more prisons to take care of the ones who "didn't learn social skills" when they were in school and we don't dare teach the values found in the Ten Commandments or the Bible because they violate the "mythical" concept of the separation of church and state, which never existed in any official document of the US government. The establishment clause of the Constitution was written only so that there would not be an official state religion like the Church of England which was started by King Henry VIII so he could divorce one of his wives when the Catholic church refused to allow it. There never was to be a US government void of any reference to God, since most colonies and later states were organized as governments under God by their constitutions that were approved by Congress in order for their territory to be admitted into the Union as a state. The idea of separation of church and state only exists in liberal secular humanist socialist minds.

If we would once again install the Bible and prayer into the schools, then things would gradually turn around back to the way it was during the founding of this country. Errant children would have the discipline they need to learn and this country would regain its greatness.

I too was raised with "spankings" and similar discipline. Corporal punishment was allowed in school when I attended. Unfortunately, as so often happens, many parents' versions of "spankings" are in actuality outright abuse and as such should not be tolerated. As for corporal punishment in school, I would never allow someone else to touch my child regardless of my feelings on the subject of corporal punishment itself. Personally I remain undecided as to whether spankings or corporal punishment helps or hurts children's development. It certainly does nothing for their self esteem or their outlook on the nature of the world (bigger people get to hit the smaller people, and it's okay). But it does most likely get them to refrain from committing the same bad behavior over again.

There also used to be respect in the world....respect for your elders, respect for others, respect for people's property, etc. That has all but disappeared. Children are learning very quickly that their behavior is often defended by their parents rather than chastised or punished. In fact, lawsuits are often brought forth by the parents themselves to argue the child's case/behavior -- even when the child was in the wrong to begin with! Whether corporal punishment is the issue or whether it's a parenting issue, I don't know. But I do know that it seems as if children are not held accountable for their actions any more.

Schools can't do more than what is done at home. I agree, most suburban kids would thrive with a good spanking or two. Of course, most parents are too dumb now a days to understand the difference between that and abusive beating. So, what can we do? We don't want children to be abused.

It all started with parents who got upset when their child got mad at them. Suddenly, spanking became abuse and people said that it was a terrible thing to do to a child.

I remember being spanked as a kid. It hurt like crap BUT I learned my lesson. I don't have any emotional problems because of it and the fear I have of my parents is a good fear.

Today's society is screwed because of parents who are afraid to hurt their child's feelings. They believe wholeheartedly that if they make their child upset then they are a bad parent.

In my opinion if your child never gets mad at you, never has said "I hate you" or "I don't love you", never has cried because of punishment--then you are a bad parent.

You are not here to be best buddies with your child, you are here to raise them.

If more parents weren't afraid to hurt their child's feelings, today's society would be a better place.

Should you spank for every little thing? Absolutely not. Should you spank your kids at all? Absolutely.

Is physical discipline the only form of discipline? No! Many children thrive and obey very well on alternative forms of discipline, like my own and many I know. I will never hit my children, and I would never allow anyone else to hit my children. corporal punishment is ridiculous and will never be brought back.

The problem is to many people went to far. I agree totally in spare the rod spoil the child but to many parents took this to the level of beating the bejesus out of their children. In response to that the powers that be have given to much power to child protective service so now any parent who tries to constructively punish their child has to worry about getting their child taken away

I disagree. Can you find the logic in teaching your child it's wrong to hit by actually hitting them? Is corporal punishment a good way to teach a child how to deal with anger or frustration? No. It encourages it.

Children need discipline, but if you as my 2 year old if she wants a time out, it's enough to make her cry. I don't need to physically harm my child to get her to listen to me. She knows I'm in control and fears the thought of losing her privileges or play time. She shouldn't have to fear being in pain, that's ridiculous.