I think it is inappropriate in all circumstances no matter how you try to rationalize it.

I will admit to spanking my oldest a couple times. The guilt was horrible and it didn't give me any better results than time out or removing toys/priviledges. I think I did it because that is what my parents did to me. I'm a non-spanking parent.

There was a time when I tried spanking with older dd (she was around two, I guess) at the urging of our ped. and my parents. It was ineffective and I felt like an idiot spanking her for hitting someone else. It left the both of us feeling horrible about ourselves and it didn't help with the behavior. So after a few useless months, we stopped and we don't spank now (or in the past (almost) 2 years.

That said, I am not going to judge a mother who feels like appropriate use of spanking works for her family.

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Vicki
Mama to Princess, 5 and Wild Thing, 3
Progress Since 1/6/09:

You see, that is what I'm wondering, for those that tried it once or twice, did you notice a difference in behavior? Good or bad. You're saying no.

I am not totally opposed to spanking, but I very rarely use it. I use it very sparing to get their attention in extreme circumstances (like running out in traffic since my oldest ds died when he was hit by a car) I certainally don't think it should be anyone's primary form of discipline. This does not teach anything at all.

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~Happiness is a large family~

Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. James 1:19

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

Right, I'm saying I don't think it helped. I think her behavior would've been worse. She was so heartbroken.

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~Jenn~

I agree with this. I also agree with Cookie2's views on the subject and with Booker81 that a spanking is open handed and on the behind.

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Jenifer
Proud wife to one amazing man
Proud mom to four awesome kids

Have a safe and blessed New Year!

I dontlike to use it! I think it ends up more in parents anger than the childs! Timeouts to me work the best! as I get to breathe and not use my power on the child!

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Old Testament Passages Used To Justify Spanking

The Bible verses that are most commonly used by some to teach that Christian parents should spank their children come entirely from the Old Testament and are:

1. Proverbs 13:24 "He that spares his rod hates his son: but he that loves him chastens him sometimes."

2. Proverbs 22:15 "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."

3. Proverbs 23:13-14 "Withhold not correction from the child: for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell."

4. Proverbs 29:15 "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame."

There is an important question to ask about these verses from the Old Testament. Do they apply today in the same way that they did during the times of the Old Testament, or are these verses other examples of the harshness of the law that are no longer to be applied in the way they once were because we live in the age of grace? A good interpretation of these verses is to say that the same principle still applies, in that children still need to have the proper amount of correction, but the correction should not be applied with corporal punishment.

If we are going to take some of the verses of the Old Testament that have to do with the punishment of children and apply them literally, then we should take all of the verses in the Old Testament that have to do with the punishment of children and apply them all literally. Deuteronomy 21:18-21 says, "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear."

Of course, no one teaches that we should apply this passage in Deuteronomy to our current day and age or that we should apply it when we correct our children today. We recognize that the passage from Deuteronomy in the Old Testament was for a different age and a different time. It is much too harsh for the day in which we live. We can look at the verses in Proverbs that have to do with using a "rod" on a child in the same way even if we interpret these parts of Proverbs literally. A good and valid interpretation of the Bible is to say that the above verses from Deuteronomy and the Proverbs are among the things from the Old Testament that are a part of the harshness and strictness of the law that should not be applied in our day because of the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament and because of the difference between law and grace.

Symbolism

We should also look at the possibility that the aforementioned verses in Proverbs should be applied symbolically. Of course, we are not trying to imply that there should be no correction or no punishment given to children, but only that it does not have to be corporal punishment.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous