ANSWERS: 47
  • No. I don't spank but we don't need law a specifically for spanking because any touch, jerk shake, etc. could be construed as spanking. Parents should not have the government so involved in their raising of their own children. None of us need so much government intrusion into our lives.
  • No, of course not.
  • I would only because I was spanked and slapped in the face at home and in public when I was younger :(
  • Considering how the children of the last 30 years or so have turned out compared to those of 50 years ago when parents actually spanked their kids I say 1000 times no. More parents need to get back to spanking
  • no... but I would support a law to punish antispankers (not to be confused with nonspankers) with a philipines style caning. I don't accuse you of gross negligence for not spanking your child, don't accuse me of abuse for spanking mine.
  • I would support making it illegal to spank kids with any object with all my heart. But I am not sure about bare hand spanking. Sometimes it may be needed.
  • I never really had to spank either of my kids. I would talk to them instead, explaining why their behavior was unacceptable, and then I sent them to their rooms to think about how they could have handled the situation in an acceptable way.
  • Absolutely not.
  • No! It is necessary as a last resort sometimes. The trick is knowing when it really has become necessary. Sometimes my 4 year old acts out because something is really bothering him, as opposed to him being spoiled and rebellious at other times. I would support parenting classes to be offered to the public at taxpayer expense. It could save us all money down the road.
  • nope. people need to go spank kids now! im probably one of the only teenagers that doesn't smoke, drink, talk back, drop out, disrespect others and such. but it was because i was spanked. my brother wasn't as much as i and he talks to my mom kind of disrespectful. i always say yes/no mam he just says yeah.
  • No, I would never take away a useful tool for some parents and make it a law to not spank, a law that would be nearly impossible to enforce.
  • Of course not, why would anyone with common sense and a brain do that lol.
  • There is a certain age when the child is too young to reason with and old enough to run in the street. A swat on the behind and "NO' are both appropriate for this age group. I think any other spanking is disrespectful of the child.
  • Isn't it sad that so many parents these days are abusing their children, taking it past a simple spank to the point where countries are considering these types of laws. I never needed to hit my child nor did many of the people I know and our children have grown to be healthy, happy, respectful grown ups who are not drug abusing thugs. To me, spanking always indicates a parent has lost control of themselves. I hear the old, "I would only spank if my child ran out into the road", well, why weren't you watching them if they are unable to be on a road safely? I am not saying that a simple bare handed swat to a padded tush will ruin a childs psyche, but I just simply see no need for it.
  • no, i never spanked but would not support that type of a law/
  • No, I got spanked when I was a kid and I turned out ok. Have you seen this "new crop" of kids that grew up in permissive households? They're just plain rotten! What is that old saying that's been around for centuries? "Spare the rod and spoil the child!" Give your children all the love you can, but don't withhold discipline! (But also, don't beat the livin' daylights out of the kids!)
  • Here in New Zealand it already IS illegal, so dumb!
  • Absolutely NOT!
  • I'm kind of undecided on this one. Definitely support a law where you couldn't spank children under 3 or over 12.
  • No. children need discipline. Time out, standing in a corner and write offs have no effect. This is not my answer, this is my granddaughter talking. i believe her. There is a difference between whipping a child and spanking a child. Whipping a child can be child abuse. Spanking a child is below the beltline and over clothing. The courts have accepted this form of spanking. It worked on my children and i am proud of their conduct today as adults. they also agree with me.
  • Hell no!
  • Absolutely not, I've said this before and got DRed but I will say it again, I believe every child needs a spanking at least once in their lifetime. I do not condone beating a child, but at the same time there are a few things that should not be punished by a simple "time-out". +3 for a great Q.
  • Child buttock-battering vs. DISCIPLINE: Child buttock-battering for the purpose of gaining compliance is nothing more than an inherited bad habit. Its a good idea for people to take a look at what they are doing, and learn how to DISCIPLINE instead of hit. I think the reason why television shows like "Supernanny" and "Dr. Phil" are so popular is because that is precisely what many (not all) people are trying to do. There are several reasons why child bottom-slapping isn't a good idea. Here are some good, quick reads recommended by professionals: Plain Talk About Spanking by Jordan Riak, The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Children by Tom Johnson, NO VITAL ORGANS THERE, So They Say by Lesli Taylor M.D. and Adah Maurer Ph.D. Most compelling of all reasons to abandon this worst of all bad habits is the fact that buttock-battering can be unintentional sexual abuse for some children. There is an abundance of educational resources, testimony, documentation, etc available on the subject that can easily be found by doing a little research with the recommended reads-visit www.nospank.net. Just a handful of those helping to raise awareness of why child bottom-slapping isn't a good idea: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center For Effective Discipline, PsycHealth Ltd Behavioral Health Professionals, Churches' Network For Non-Violence, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Parenting In Jesus' Footsteps, Global Initiative To End All Corporal Punishment of Children, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 26 countries, child corporal punishment is prohibited by law (with more in process). In fact, the US was the only UN member that did not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  • Yes i would also support a law supporting making it legal to spank your woman.
  • Nope. I might if it didn't outlaw it, but set limits and requirements, but otherwise, no.
  • NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The law already has several safe guards in place. This is suppose to be a free country and if we start to do that then you take away a parents choice to decide what is in the best interest of their child. There is a difference between a spanking and a beating. A spanking is done with love and to set bounderies and should never leave marks or be done to humiliate and done as a last resort, where as a beating is done in anger, and fustration, and done to humiliate as well and will cause bruising.
  • No way.
  • No. children need to be spanked as discipline for a bad deed.
  • Yes...but it's not necessary to do that because I never did hit my children or ever felt the need to do so. Also - my children are adults now - the time for such a law to have any affect on me is long past.
  • No. There are enough child protection laws already that effectively nullify parental attempts to discipline their children.
  • No way. I don't think they get spanked enough nowadays. I would support mandatory spanking. When I was a kid, I lived next door to a guy that walloped his kids as soon as he got home from work, just in case they did something he didn't know about. This is prophylactic spanking.
  • No. I find this an unacceptable solution to a problem. The "government" hasn't any right to be involved with the parenting of a child. After all should one of these "government" parented children turn out to be a rotten apple will the government stand forward and accept the responsibility for having raised such a child? No. You know they won't and due compensation for the child's actions will still fall onto the shoulders of the biological parents. Raising children is an all or nothing situation you are either involved in all aspects of the raising of a child or you are not. To give someone the responsibility to do a thing and then to begin stripping them of the tools to do so is at best counter productive to the task being accomplished well. The simple fact is that raising a child is a complex task and the mind set of one size fits all is an ignorant and simplistic view. Parents need to be educated in effective way to deal with raising their children and taught how to properly use the tools at their disposal. However the use of these tools has to be left up to them as they bear the burden of responsibility.
  • No. If anyone is impressed with our undisciplined youths that have zero respect for ever 3o year old pareants that are youthful themselves, that stuff is crazy. When I pick up my kids at school, I get punky mouthed kids disrespecting me and everyone. I read a study on spanking and single parenting. ost single parents are women. In dual parent households, the fathers spanked on average 9 to 1 over the wives. So females don't spank as often as men as a rule. The study then drew in the elemnet of behaviour of children in single parent homes. Women did spank more than when married, but less overall. The behaviour of the children based on school behaviour grades/records showed that the children behaved worse than married household children in the majority of children and households studied. I think the summation was that single mothers should spank their children (leaned towards male children needing it most to get good behaviour marks). Either way, spanking encourages good behaviour. And most recently, a study was released that said continual yelling versus spanking created more emotional trauma in children overall. Give them two good ones! And then tell them you love them. Stop the endless yelling and trying to reason with children under 11. Use time out in certain instances, but less than spanking. Don't join baseball teams where they dont keep score either. It does not prepare kids for life and its ups and downs, not its competitive nature. Never spank in anger. Cool down first. The logic the studyt was drawing
  • Yes. If you really love your children why would you ever want to hurt them? If children make mistakes should they be hurt physically for their wrong doings or taught why what they did wasn't correct? Those who spank their kids are actually using fear to make sure their kids behavior rather than explain the reason why they should behavior properly. If you get spanked you might not make the same mistake again but your reasoning will be not because it what I did was bad but because I afraid to get spanked again. Thus, parents who spank are teaching fear rather than morals. My mother never spanked me but talked to me and explained to me what was right and not right behavior in society. It is because of her that I believe in doing things to benefit society, spreading social awareness and tolerance to all. Thus, parents who spank are teaching fear rather than morals. These are ethics and morals that are parent's duty to teach their children.
  • Resorting to physical violence to teach children is never a good thing. This method is used by dim-witted and uneducated parents who have no other options THAN to beat their children to submission, since they lack the capability to find a reasonable means of solving parental problems. Also, allowing parents to beat their children will risk the confusion between punishment and domestic violence. If a parent beat his kids out of punishment, it's perfectly fine, but if a parent beats his kids out of rage or revenge, is it still okay? Who is there in the house to differentiate between the two, and who's the only authorative figure in the house who has the right to beat their children? The parent. If a law was made to stop using physical punishment to "teach" children, I would wholeheartedly supposrt this law.
  • Absolutely not. I spank my kids when they need it; they are not abused; the get the discipline they need when they need it.
  • To be honest, spanking isn't my thing. But that's my opinion, people have different methods on disciplinary action towards there children. If some didn't spank then we'd probably have misfits..
  • I would rather see a campaign to educate people in the harm that it does. We have an awful lot of laws now.

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