On the way to work yesterday, I heard a news story that a politician in California was wanting to make a law where it would be illegal to spank children under 4 years old. It would be punishable by a year in jail or a fine...or both.
It immediately hacked me off that a law like this could be a possibility. There is no way I want someone dictating to me how I can discipline my child. I am a firm believer in spanking if necessary. My brother and I were spanked as children, and it worked very well on us.
Now, I understand that there are people out there that take spanking too far, and I realize that it is not good to spank babies and young children. The quotes that I saw of the politician were talking about that there is no need to spank babies. I totally agree with that. But I think there are times that two, three or four years need their bottoms spanked. And I sure want to be able to discipline my child in the manner I see fit without someone telling me what to do.
What do you think?
8 comments:
I agree. I used to be way more in favor of spanking than I am these days though (now that I have my own kids, and have practiced some other methods). I still use spanking, but only for acts of willful disobedience, or if time out has not worked. I rarely spank because there are other forms of discipline that I have found to work well. When I do spank, my kids have received a warning that a spanking is coming if they decide to disobey, so they know what they are getting into. Also, I never spank in anger, and I have a talk with the kids about why they are getting spanked and what they need to do next time, etc. A book I like on discipline that I want to read again because it has been a while is called Shepherding a Child's Heart. It was referred to me by the Heflins. It's a really good book about what the goals of discipline are and lays out some good plans in how to discipline in order to meet those goals.
I totally agree. My parents spanked all of us and I guess we turned out okay!! I have always planned on spanking my kids someday, but I guess we will have to see!!
I definitely don't think there should be a law against it!
Like Becky, I use spanking as a last resort. It all depends on the child & the situation, but sometimes a swat on the leg is the only thing they will take seriously. I can see how some people abuse spanking as a form of punishment, which is why Sammy & I also always explain to the kids FIRST why they will receive a spanking. Sometimes just talking about why they are being punished is worse than the actual act of being spanked!
I agree with Becky that you should never spank a child in anger. Being a Social Worker in the past, I do have way too many stories of children that have been abused. But I don't think that God would speak to the subject in His word, if it was something that needed to be outlawed. (Prov. 13:24,22:15, 23:13) Hopefully Christ loving parents use it in the ways that God intended it to be used. I do think for most parents the old saying "this is going to hurt me more than you" is probably true because I don't think it is the discipline method of choice anymore.
Leave it to California! They also do not want you to call yourself a pet owner - you are their guardian. :) I totally agree with Becky - thanks for the book recommendation as discipline will be needed in the near future.
Leave it to California! They also do not want you to call yourself a pet owner - you are their guardian. :) I totally agree with Becky - thanks for the book recommendation as discipline will be needed in the near future.
spanking, like all other things in the world is a MUST for parents to teach their children, but in moderation of course.
keep in mind that you're spanking them for the sake of shaping their behavior, not that you want to hurt them.
i personally think that this kind of law is inappropriate. they should however promote more and more parenting courses that teach parents how to become a super parent.
i am used to be spanked by my parents, i'm glad i did because this is who i am now :)
Shafiq Ramli
http://disciplining-children.blogspot.com/
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