| What does spanking teach your child?
What does spanking teach your child?
You may breed resentment and anger in your kids.
Kids who are spanked usually don't learn a great deal about "correcting" their misbehavior. They don't usually sit in their rooms and say, "Gosh, I can really see after getting spanked that I was wrong. I'll do better now." They do think about how angry their Dad or Mom is, and they can develop a good deal of resentment for their parents.
Spanking shows your kids that "might makes right."
Adults make mistakes in their lives too, right? Can we use our imaginations and feel what it would be like for someone four times our size to pick us up and swat us on the butt? What would we learn from that? Would we feel any injustice? You can bet that your kids are feeling some.
Spanking isn't effective in the long run.
Parents who are asked why they spank report that they use spanking to "teach their kids a lesson" or so that they won't misbehave again. Many kids who are spanked go underground with their misbehavior and become more cunning to avoid being caught. (Wouldn't you?) If you're spanking your kids fairly often, doesn't this show that it's not working very well?
Alternative solutions
I don't believe that kids who are spanked occasionally are ruined for life, nor do I believe that spanking is necessary to discipline a child. There are countless examples of disciplined and responsible young people who were never spanked by their parents.
Parents who don't spank their kids use time outs, re-directing or distraction with their kids. They pick their kids up and let them cool down, or simply leave the area themselves so they don't do something they'll regret later. While these methods aren't always perfect, they help to form the foundation of a certain kind of household -- one in which violence is not "taught" as a means to better behavior.
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