Should spanking your children be illegal??? Need Ideas for essay!!

[DevinNMcCraw]

Awesome! Thanks guys!!!

[lilpnaygirl]

No spanking shouldn't be illegal. It depends how the parents discipline their children. Unless they really hit them hard or more than once such as child abuse then that is a different case.

[cubarican210]

It shouldn't be illegal but the parent shouldn't use excessive force either. It should just be a light tap. No punching or kicking or using objects such as belts to hit them.

[bigfoot951]

Look at all of the crime in America.  Two general things can be attributed to whether an individual will lead a life of crime:  upbringing(family) and friends.  You can only do so much to control who your kids friends are so the one thing you can control is the way their raised.  Decipline should start at a very young age.  So spanking should 100% be legal.  It will have lasting effects later in life.

[lvstephanie]

I think it should be legal, but I also agree that the better discipline is to put them in Timeout and explain the reasoning for the punishment -- what rule they broke and why there is such a rule in the first place. However the latter form of punishment depends upon the mental capacity of the child... If a 1-yr old were to run out into the street, then spanking is the better option since there is an immediate cause and effect relationship that the child understands. If the child is now 3 and runs into the street, then timeout is better because not only will the child learn from the immediate punishment, but then after timeout the parent can explain why they were put in timeout -- the dangers of traffic on the street, drivers not able to see the child in time to stop, etc. -- and the explanation will show the child the true values of the household as well as let the child know that the punishment is done out of love, not hate.

Our family actually ran into a problem with one of our caretakers... my sister was always big for her age, so people often mistook her for being older than she actually was. My mom had gone to the caretaker to pick my sister and I up, and witnessed the caretaker telling my 1-yr-old sister "Now K-- we discussed this earlier. You are not allowed to go into the kitchen by yourself...." My sister had a confused expression on her face and my mom realized that she wasn't getting anything out of it, nor did she probably understand the earlier "discussion". My mom took the caretaker aside and reminder her of my sister's age, and gave the caretaker permission to give my sister a light spanking on her butt if she broke a rule of safety so that my sister would understand what a "discussion" wouldn't make clear.

[txstarr29]

Spanking should not be against the law!  Again, like so many others have already said...There is a HUGE difference between spanking and beating!

When I was younger I would get slapped if I talked back or disrespected an adult.  I would get spanked for doing wrong.  I hated it back then and thought that my parents and grandmother were being too hard on me. Now, as a parent of 3 teens that I have not done that too, I wish I had been a lot stricter.

You see all these kids today that talk back and disrespect adults every where you turn.  This is from the lack of discipline that we had when we were younger.  I would have never told my mom no or told her "whatever" when she was speaking to me.

My kids actually attend a school where they use corporal punishment on a daily basis.  They also do not call the parents to ask permission prior to doing it.  It is a given if you send your kids to the school, it is going to happen.  It is a public school and not a private one for those of you that are wondering.  I can tell you that it does work.  My kids get in less trouble at this school than they did at previous ones.  The boys at least.  They dont paddle for talking in class so my daughter still gets in trouble.

[sandiegosurfer]

I think a slap on the butt bc the kid has been misbehaving is a necessity. However, there is a line between a firm hand on the butt or grabbing an arm and discipling the kid to beating a child because you have lost control of yourself.

[jasmineandjustin]

WOW...LOTS of different ideas and reactions about this post!  I'm scared to post lol...I believe in spanking, but NOT beating! There IS a difference...but it should be up to the parent and their beliefs...good luck with your paper!

[DevinNMcCraw]

Thank you! This has really helped me! Its an arguementative essay so I needed both viewpoints! Most people believe it should be legal. Not many people have posted on here that it should be illegal. I need some more opinions on why you think it should be illegal! If any people believe that. haha

[txstarr29]

I think that the only reason it should be illegal is because there are some people out there that would abuse it.  It is my opinion that the reason spanking is looked down on now days is because of the high rate of actual child abuse. 

If people did not take spanking to extremes it would not be looked down on and there would be no question on whether it should be illegal or not.

[kodomfulmanar]

agreeing with the above few posts that spanking and beating(abusing) are not the same thing. to some degree, disciplining is necessary, be it in the form of spanking or some other form.
personally, i've never been spanked, so i dont have direct experience, and i wouldnt spank my kids. but i dont think it should be made illegal either.

[amyrouse]

A reason why it should be illegal?  I'm definitely not for it being illegal, but...

You could say spanking should be illegal because many people believe that spanking does not teach the child anything except that it is okay to hit someone when they don't do what you tell them to do.  Discipline should be about educating a child, not about training them to do or not do something through negative reinforcement.   

[lanham54]

idont think it shoould be illegal there is a big differenc bettween panking and beating   

[cyncity831]

No, it shouldn't be illegal.  Not to say that its ok for a parent to do it though.  A spanking is definitely not a beating so there are differences.  As long as there is no real danger to the child what happens in the privacy of someones home should stay there.  Besides, do you know the chaos that would cause...more kids in foster homes, parents in jail and imagine how the kids would use it as a threat to the parent.

[dragon702]

i dont think it should be illegal some kids dont learn their lesson just by being grounded or talked too. But i think spanking should be used only when necessary