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Originally Posted by meganerd  Of course parents should have the right to reasonably discipline their children. Spanking should fall under this. But there should be a reasonable definition between spanking and child abuse according to law. |
I think most states do have laws defining the difference between disciplining and abusing children. I know in NH (where my sister is a guidance counselor and on the NH board of educators) "disciplining" doesn't leave any visible marks other then redness (no bruising, cutting etc..) - or something like that.
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Originally Posted by Devil Dog I got spanked as a kid. Every time I got spanked, I deserved it, unfortunately for me.  |
Same here - nothing put fear into my sister's and my eyes when we heard them open up that desk drawer and pull out that 18" ruler...
But - there needs to be a balance, IMO. The punishment needs to fit the crime.
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Originally Posted by Acro I grew up in a society and at an age that parents AND teachers were allowed to physically discipline children; this seemed to work and although there were exceptions of recorded abuse, I believe that my generation grew up as the last one that held it together. Overall, kids grow nowadays to be disrespectful, rude, arrogant, demanding and overstepping of their "rank" - especially when both parents work and do not spend time with their children in order to forge a proper personality and to instill values. The proliferation of military type camps for kids is an indication of how failed the system is. |
I don't have ant children but I agree. Teachers never used physical discipline when I was in school (was I lucky because of that!) and within a few years after I was born the whole "no spanking" movement started in my area and you could see the difference clearly. I went back to my HS 3 years after I graduated to visit some teachers (and a couple of people I knew as freshmen when I was a senior). There was very little respect for teachers and the staff and even less respect for the school's rules. It was quite sad.
Now that the now spanking movement has been in full force for years we are seeing a whole generation of whining crybabies (a.k.a. entitlement whores) who think the world deserves them everything because they didn't get a Malibu Barbie or that Transformer when they were 6 years old.
