Spanking children leads to adult mental illness...

[Captain Clarkie]

I see your point.

Sorry about that, it's the way my trousers hang.

[The Black Guardian]

well, to a certain extent its the "other stuff" that makes the raising of the kids a challenge. I mean its the fact that you now have to schedule everything with that new addition in mind, or that you have to get all of lifes other tasks done while still looking after the young ones, that makes it tough. I also find that people who don't have kids tend to think its easier to protect your kids from harm than it actually is. Its easy to say "just keep an eye on them. If you watch them how can they get into trouble?" But the reality is, day to day life requires that you can't keep an eye on them 100% of the time. You also can't lock them up in a padded room all day. You quickly learn that it only takes a split second for an accident to happen and kids seem to have an uncanny knack for finding ways to get into trouble sometimes...

Scheduling was a part of life before though, and we tended not to adjust our lives too much. She went where and when we did the vast majority of the time. When we worked, we had the grandparents.

As for protecting them from harm? FEH! This is largely a new age invention. Nothing wrong with letting them get hurt, within reason. My daughter, almost 20 now, never had a bicycle helmet or any pads. She might have quite a few healthy scars, but no bones broken. Somehow, I managed no major injuries, despite growing up without a single lock on any cabinet, covers over electrical outlets, carseats or wearing seatbelts (of course, we didn't have a car until I was 5), playground swings with rubber padding, etc. Ah the good ol' days, when we used to swing as high as we could possibly swing and jump off into gravel or shells. And I was cooking by myself before the age of 10.

[Monty_Cristo]

How many people contributed to this and don't have kids? Because, you know, mind your own beeswax.

how many people didn't actually read the first post? i did. and that's why i contributed.

"So I was reading an article similar to this one:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/spankin...ry?id=16695697

and it got me to thinking.


I could say "hell I'm fine"...as I got my butt whooped a lot...Man I was whooped. However, my experience probably is different from many people. So how does everyone feel about this? I'm watching my two older sisters raise thier children, we all were raised with the same parents and all got spanked when we got out of line (I probably got it harder because I was the boy). One of them doesn't believe in spanking her children, while the other one does believe in spanking her child.

So do you feel that spanking causes mental illness later in life? Were you spanked as a child? What are your thoughts on the matter?

Also, if you did get a whoopin' as a youngin'...are you currently....crazy?" --OP

[mikekerrIII]

Pretty sure we've all been kids

Being one and raising one are tow very different things, and I doubt many of us remeber outr early childhood clearly at all.

[Huthaifa]

I just dont believe it works. A tap on the behind to get a kids attention is one thing, but a beating doesnt stop poor behavior long term. When you are a parent, you are basically God to your kids. You can take away any and all of their priviledges. Being verbally or physically abusive to your child, is just creating more work for the parent down the road.

I got spanked as a child, but I dont think it really did anything to me. I just understood the consequences of my actions by thinking them out, so I didnt get into trouble much.

[Slam_Bradley]

I just dont believe it works. A tap on the behind to get a kids attention is one thing, but a beating doesnt stop poor behavior long term.

Because there's nothing in between a tap on the behind and a "beating."

[dupont2005]

Being one and raising one are tow very different things, and I doubt many of us remeber outr early childhood clearly at all.

As Monty Cristo points out in the post directly above yours, the very first post in this thread asks if we were spanked as a child, not how we raise our kids. I can remember early enough to know what destroyed me mentally. It wasn't physical abuse, but if it had been I bet I would know. If this thread were about sexual abuse would the consensus still be "You don't know, you don't have kids!"

[mikekerrIII]

As Monty Cristo points out in the post directly above yours, the very first post in this thread asks if we were spanked as a child, not how we raise our kids. I can remember early enough to know what destroyed me mentally. It wasn't physical abuse, but if it had been I bet I would know. If this thread were about sexual abuse would the consensus still be "You don't know, you don't have kids!"

That only works out if you think spanking and abuse are synonyms.

[dupont2005]

That only works out if you think spanking and abuse are synonyms.

They very well could be depending on a million variables.

[mikekerrIII]

They very well could be depending on a million variables.

They have very little in common in practice.

[dupont2005]

They have very little in common in practice.

What exactly is the line between spanking and beating? I bet your line is incredibly vague and different from everyone else's. Is getting the switch physical abuse? I think some people in this thread reported they have. Some will say it's good parenting, some will say it's cruel and unusual punishment. So spanking very well could be exactly like abuse depending on a million variables, like I said.

[Vibranium]

and also intent....I was abused, my stepfather let me know he beat me because he could

[Captain Clarkie]

how many people didn't actually read the first post? i did. and that's why i contributed.

"So I was reading an article similar to this one:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/spankin...ry?id=16695697

and it got me to thinking.


I could say "hell I'm fine"...as I got my butt whooped a lot...Man I was whooped. However, my experience probably is different from many people. So how does everyone feel about this? I'm watching my two older sisters raise thier children, we all were raised with the same parents and all got spanked when we got out of line (I probably got it harder because I was the boy). One of them doesn't believe in spanking her children, while the other one does believe in spanking her child.

So do you feel that spanking causes mental illness later in life? Were you spanked as a child? What are your thoughts on the matter?

Also, if you did get a whoopin' as a youngin'...are you currently....crazy?" --OP

Fair enough.

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[chrisgiff]

It doesn't work.

This is the same attitude that says the death penalty deters criminals. We know that's not true because we have hundreds of years of evidence that says otherwise.

All deterrence theories are pretty much bullshit.

[jesse_custer]

Sure it can. I remember getting whipped for punching my sister in the stomach. I never thought about punching her again.

Comparing spanking to the death penality is pretty strange if you ask me.