On Spanking Children…
Is it possible spank children judiciously and lovingly? I would answer ‘yes’ because this is how it is done with my own children. There are people that spank their children out of a place of frustration and anger in their own lives and there are people that are able to use spanking as an additional correctional tool in disciplining their children without letting anger and excessive violence enter in.
Although I do not spank often, when I have spanked it has been almost always immediately followed by an explanation of why the behavior was not acceptable, a hug, and telling my child that I love them.
The Bible actually mentions quite a bit about the topic. Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” and more shockingly, Proverbs 13:24 “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”
Do I believe that most parents of our generation are able to discipline out of this place of love versus an angered or emotional reaction? NO. So statistically, I would agree that it would be better for no one to spank than everyone. But I also would not chastise any parent who spanks from a place of love.
Forget kids for a while. Is there no benefit to the horse rider for using the bit in the mouth or the riding crop, or can those tools affectively be used as a training tool without permanently damaging the horse?
On the idea of negative reinforcement, how many of us heard our mothers tell us over-and-over to not go near the stove and then only changed our behavior when we got close enough to get burned? I was not psychologically damaged by the stove or from the spanks I received as a child.
Most folks who are against spanking say that “there is nothing that shows ANY benefit of spanking,” but I am here to provide testimonial evidence that it has worked beautifully in my household to aid in raising three well-behaved wonderful kids. Remember, most anti-spanking studies are not looking to prove positive benefits of spanking, they are trying to prove negative effects.
