kids that were actually allowed to be spanked (like back in the day but not really) turned out way better than all these little kids now, im saying from experience growing up with these kids. the new generation is completly horrible and they are just getting worse.so i completly believe in spanking as long as its not excessive and not too hard but hard enough to get the point across.

I was spanked growing up. My dad and I have a wonderful relationship now. My husband was spanked growing up, he and his dad couldn't have had a better relationship (his dad passed away 2 months ago). The wrong in spanking is when it is done out of anger and the parent goes overboard with it, or when a parent slaps their child around and yells at them all the time. Spanking is not teaching a child to hit, it is teaching the child who has authority. And done the correct way, it is effective. Usually after doing it a few times, you don't have to continue it very often because the kids are going to stay in line. And they still love you. When I taught first grade, the kids who were allowed to be paddled didn't need it; the kids who needed it weren't allowed to get it. (Teachers here are allowed to paddle with a consent form from their parents. They check yes or no and sign it.) The kids who got it from their parents were alot happier children than the ones who didn't. I do believe it should be a last resort, when other things don't work. Or when you've told them one time and they know what they're doing is wrong. And parents, please make a believer out of your children. If you say you are going to do something, do it. Don't just keep threatening to do it. Tell them one time, and then go through with it. It's alot easier that way in the long run! Then they know you mean what you say, when you say it.

Bridoe, I know all about redirection, too, and how it doesn't work. But I learned all about it in college, and I worked in a daycare one time where the director didn't even want us to tell the kids no. She wanted us to redirect them because no is negative and "they hear enough of negative talk at home". Boy, were those kids unruly! A few years later when I was working at the elementary school teaching first grade and those kids were there, they were the ones always in trouble for not minding. They all rode the same bus everyday to the daycare after school, and when waiting on the bus, they were hard for any teacher to handle! It was all the kids from that daycare- you could see the pattern every year.

I was spanked as a child when I did something I wasnt supposed to do. I was always told why I was getting one too. We talk to our children, but we spank them when they need it. Time-outs dont work. It even says in the Bible- "spare the rod, spoil the child". Spanking isnt wrong you just have to know the limits.

I would never spank my kid what i would do is put them in time out or ground them i dont think spanking is the right way to go

I think spanking is a sign that parents have lost control and are not resourceful enough to come up with options. We have never and will never hit our child-nor have my 3 brothers spanked their 9 kids.

Of the 10 children we have between us (ranging from 16 months to 17 years), each can be controlled by a stern look from across the room. We are not superior parents by any means- we are just all trying to raise our kids to have respect and make good choices whether or not we are waiting nearby to smack 'em around a little. It takes a little more effort than a quick whack across the behind but I think it's worth it.

I can tell you that if someone hit me everytime I made an error while figuring out a whole new world I would learn to not try new things and to be afraid of messing up when I did venture out.

The nanny shows on tv were referenced somewhere in the reply chain and the writer said the kids were awful because they havent been spanked. Maybe the kids are awful but a lack of beatings isn't the problem, it's inconsistency/laziness in parenting that's usually the culprit of the bad behavior.

So, if you choose to hit your child because you've lost control or are really so lost in the moment that you can find no other way to communicate a message to him/her, go for it. As for me and mine, we will choose something productive.

PS: Something to consider if you think spanking is a good idea: When do you start hitting your child? Maybe at the hospital before they go home to your house so they know what to expect when they get there? Maybe after the child is a little older so that she knows you love her but that you can turn on her at any moment?