Corporal Punishment RematchFollow

I think my parents had a kind of formalized ritual around it, to make the idea of getting spanked more terrifying than the actual smack on the bottom.

It was never spontaneous. It was deliberate, and designed as the consequence of an action on my part that was a clear violation. (Like lying about cleaning my room.) I think my dad only followed through twice on the threat, because the threat itself was terrifying enough to correct my behavior in most cases.

If you (well anyone really) find a way to think about anything remotely related to sex while your kid is screaming and throwing a tantrum and you're trying to carry them to 'time out' without getting a bloody nose from the flailing limbs, let me know, because that's some seriously powerful stuff.

Priest thing is always evil though, that's a given.


Edit: *sigh* filters...

Edited, Oct 1st 2014 9:43am by someproteinguy

Funny. Sexual isn't filtered, but it's root word is.

I'm gonna crack this code!!

As a kid it was a problem. As an adult I'm just a red blooded American male.

I described when and why a spanking could be delivered in a manner which is both effective and does not result in any long term negative psychological effects to the child. I did so in specific response to accounts of spankings involving an angry parent hitting a child in the heat of the moment when the child is doing something wrong. That's specifically how *not* to do it because it mostly just reinforces the idea that hitting people when they make you upset is acceptable.

We can assume that the physical spanking involves force sufficient to be painful, but not harmful. Given that no one else talked about the specifics you're asking for, I kinda have to question why you singled me out for this though. Seems more like you're fishing for objections than assessing what I actually talked about (which, again, was about when and why you spank, not so much the specific method of spanking). If this is your only objection, then I'll call that a victory.

I think that sheltering children from the realities of a world where real consequences for our actions exist is far more harmful though. We're raising kids who assume that no one would ever use physical force on them, no matter how much they escalate their own actions. And they usually learn this lesson as late teens or early 20s when they get tased or maced (if they're lucky) by police officers who aren't just going to endlessly give them warnings and then finally resort to a "time out" for their behavior. If being spanked a few times teaches them to avoid escalating their behavior to the point of physical consequences, that is going to help them navigate a real world where such escalations will result in far worse than a spanking. And that's a good thing.


I agree completely with your assessment of what it teaches the child. However, I happen to think that this is a good lesson to teach that child. Because that's how the real world actually works. Ultimately, all laws are about enforcing a (collective) will on the people, and ultimately all laws are enforced with physical pain (or at least discomfort). If you refuse to comply with an LEO, he will eventually have to do something to you that will be painful. At the end of all requests are demands, at at the end of all demands are threats, and at the end of all threats are physical force. That may not sound warm and fuzzy to our modern sensibilities, but that's how things actually work. It's not a bad idea to teach kids this reality rather than lie to them about it. Because eventually, they will learn, and it'll be a rude awakening when it happens.

And spanking is not the goal of disciplining your child. See the parallel?

within the method, the purpose of spanking is to cause pain, for a larger goal sure, but in that moment it's about pain. The idea is to use pain as a deterrent.

Edited, Oct 1st 2014 11:21pm by Xsarus

How about we teach kids what we strive for - a world free of physical alteration?

Teach by example...etc...etc.

A world free of reality?

My five year old knows exactly why there's a rifle trained on the fireplace in December.

Care Bears > My Little Pony.