Spanking is an act of discipline that has been used for a long time now but has decreased over the last few decades. The controversy is whether or not there are better ways to discipline a child without risking negative emotional affects.
The key to keep spanking as a good source of discipline is to only do it on rare occasions and most importantly, do not cross the line. The spanking should be mild with only a slap or two without causing much pain to the child. If you cross or border the line between mild spanking and abusive beating, kicking, or punching, you are going beyond this safe form of disciplinary and should find a new way to educate your child.
Another good way to know if you are using this discipline in the right way is if you are doing it out of anger or not. If you are spanking the child because you are angry or frustrated you need to re-evaluate your methods.
If you follow these guidelines, the child will know that they just broke a rule they need to follow from there on out. For example, if your child runs out into the road, a mild spanking sends the message that they cannot do that anymore. Scaring a child into following your rules is not usually a good idea, but at times when their safety is involved, it is what's needed.
Polls have shown that about two thirds of parents of children age three to five, spank their kids on average one to three times a week. This does not send the same warning to the child as when they are spanked in extreme cases just a few times a year.
Some people are against spanking and that's okay. Everybody has different parenting techniques. But in selected situations, spanking can get the message across to keep your child safe, without negatively affecting your child.
I absolutely agree. Parents should remember that when spanking their child, it's goal is to discipline and not harm. I think that when spanking the child the parent must follow up immediately with explanation of why they did so. This is important because if not, the child (especially a very young child) will think that mommy or daddy "hates me and just wants to hit me". That's when spanking becomes detrimental to the child.
ReplyDeleteI also agree thank spanking should be used sparingly. There are many forms of discipline that should be used frequently, but spanking is not one. Spanking should be used in "emergency" situations. Like you mentioned, at times when their physical safety is at risk, is a good time. But even still, you should evaluate the situation before immediately spanking the child. How will it benefit the child? As with any form of disciplinary action, the parent must follow up with conversation or a reason why they did such action.
ReplyDeleteGood point Patricia, a follow up conversation to explain why they were spanked is crucial. Without the explanation the child could be confused on exactly what they need to fix and resent the parent at the same time for spanking them for what they think for no good reason.
ReplyDeleteGreat points! It's a shame how out of hand some parents can get when it comes to disciplining. I also think it's important to not spank your children if you find yourself to be very angry or irritated at the time of their misbehavior. Even if you think it's a necessary time to spank them, you could take out more on the child then you planned due to your anger at that moment. I also agree with you on the fact that spanking should only be used in extreme cases and not very often. It's important for the child to understand what they did wrong and spanking them often could give off the wrong impression.
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