GifMike:  Let’s start with spanking…

Locke:  Spare the rod spoil the child.

Demosthenes:  Big surprise.  Spanking teaches nothing.   It’s simply a way for parents or guardians to release their own anger.  A release that easily becomes an addiction.  Eventually the parent MUST spank whenever they are frustrated.

GifMike:  It really depends on the situation.  For the most part I do think spanking is extranious, if the child has the capacity to understand the explination of why what they’re doing is wrong or dangerous.  When my daughter was two, though,  she kept trying to run out into the road.  NO! was not enough.  When she almost got hit by a car I swatted her butt to try to shock her into realizing there was a danger.  After that she was afraid to go near the street.  If the child is too young to understand and they’re putting themselves or another child in danger, drastic measures MUST be taken for their own safety.  As soon as she was old enough to properly communicate I never had to spank her again.  I certainly would have though if a similar situation occured.  If she was twelve and kept throwing rocks at other kids and did not stop after I explained what could happen, damn right I’d spank her.  I think it should only be used in situations of physical danger like that though.  When death or damage to her or someone else is on the line, there’s very little room for time outs or psycology techniques.  Just make sure you give explanation a first shot.  It’s often an adults inability to adaquately communicate the proper perspective to kids that leads to uncontrolled anger.

to be continued…