Your views on Corporal Punishment.

[Powah]

I would say i agree with it i think its silly that we have to be fluffy with our kids about how we punish them and what not. I was beaten by nuns in catholic school but honestly it made me a better person, rather than the kids today that see the weak punishments and brush it off.

 

[Fangz]

I was beaten by nuns in catholic school but honestly it made me a better person, rather than the kids today that see the weak punishments and brush it off.

Yeah I used to get beat by those wonderful nuns in 3rd grade because I couldn't long divide. I'll never forget her name was Sr. Florence and I'd get called to the board, have trouble and then I had to stick my arm out and suffer a surprisingly hard blow to my forearm with a wooden ruler. As a result from 3rd grade on I began failing math miserably and suffered socially. My sister is a teacher in that very school now and the way things have changed is amazing. A teacher nun who did that about 4 years ago was taken to court and removed from her teaching position. There are ways to punish children but beating them is not one of them. They aren't your children, it's a job and thankfully beating kids in school can and probably will end your career and land you in jail.

 

[love feet]

don't believe in it!!!!!!
in Sweden for example you can be put in jail for spanking. now that wont happen to most people but it can!!!.. all other forms of Corporal Punishment are also illegal with jail as a possibility too!!!

 

[BigJim]

Yeah I used to get beat by those wonderful nuns in 3rd grade because I couldn't long divide. I'll never forget her name was Sr. Florence and I'd get called to the board, have trouble and then I had to stick my arm out and suffer a surprisingly hard blow to my forearm with a wooden ruler. As a result from 3rd grade on I began failing math miserably and suffered socially. My sister is a teacher in that very school now and the way things have changed is amazing. A teacher nun who did that about 4 years ago was taken to court and removed from her teaching position. There are ways to punish children but beating them is not one of them. They aren't your children, it's a job and thankfully beating kids in school can and probably will end your career and land you in jail.

Getting CP for being a bit of a duffer in school is, in my opinion, totally unreasonable. And considering how many Catholic schools the world over are now being sued through the floor (as is the Church itself for covering up decades of abuse) and investigated by various police forces, I find it sadly unsurprising that such treatment was meted out to you.

That isn't punishment designed to correct an errant child, it's physical abuse done by the mentally challenged.

 

[WorkInProgress]

I am uncompromisingly and unequivocally against corporal punishment in the schools, and the more I think about my reason for feeling this way, the harder it is for me to condone corporal punishment in the home either. Here is why: I consider it a certainty, though unprovable and unquantifiable, that some proportion of the school administrators who administer corporal punishment are getting off on it. It needs to be remembered that not everybody who has sadomasochistic sexual proclivities has had the self-awareness and the intelligence to identify it as a proclivity and to be part of a community that polices itself with the "consenting adults" rule. Some persons of kink give outlet to their kinks with consenting adults. Others use non-consenting parties. Am I saying that this is what's behind all, or even most, corporal punishment in the schools? No. Am I saying it's what's behind some of it? Yes. Am I saying that this is a good enough reason to prohibit it completely? Yes. Absolutamente.

On a side note, I also think it's extremely destructive for teachers to punish students in any way at all for making mistakes in learning. My second-grade teacher punished me with humiliation one day for not knowing how to read something. She didn't swat me; she made me sit for an hour in the first-grade classroom next door. There's a better way to deal with a student not knowing something: just calmly explain it and say "don't worry, practice it a little more and you'll get it." Believe it or not, teachers sometimes can get good results by treating students as partners in a common goal, even at age six or seven.

 

[Mister Scruff]

I used to get smacked as a kid. A lot. With implements as well; I remember once getting a remote control smashed over my head for trying to turn off the telly because I wanted my mum's attention. A lot of people will say stuff like "my parents smacked me when I was a kid and it never did me any harm". I can honestly say that I've never met anyone whose parents used to hit them that grew up to be a fully functional and well-adjusted adult. I certainly didn't.

The way I see it if you need to strike your child, you've lost control of the situation. You're probably also a bit of a prick. If you're not patient and intelligent enough to raise a child without resorting to violence, you need to seriously reconsider how fit you are to be a parent.

 

[chicago]

The way I see it if you need to strike your child, you've lost control of the situation. You're probably also a bit of a prick. If you're not patient and intelligent enough to raise a child without resorting to violence, you need to seriously reconsider how fit you are to be a parent.

This.

 

[Carsomyr]

Eh, I was never beaten/spanked as a kid (Corporal Punishment has been banned for like half a century over here) but I turned out alright, as have everyone else I know. My dad grew up when the Corporal Punishment debate was ongoing, he says he got spanked once during his entire childhood, but didn't learn anything from that experience.

The way I see it if you need to strike your child, you've lost control of the situation. You're probably also a bit of a prick. If you're not patient and intelligent enough to raise a child without resorting to violence, you need to seriously reconsider how fit you are to be a parent.

I've got to say, there's a lot of truth to that. I say raise your child with LOVE, not physical abuse!

 

[BigJim]

This.

& that. 😀

 

[BigJim]

I used to get smacked as a kid. A lot. With implements as well; I remember once getting a remote control smashed over my head for trying to turn off the telly because I wanted my mum's attention. A lot of people will say stuff like "my parents smacked me when I was a kid and it never did me any harm". I can honestly say that I've never met anyone whose parents used to hit them that grew up to be a fully functional and well-adjusted adult. I certainly didn't.

The way I see it if you need to strike your child, you've lost control of the situation. You're probably also a bit of a prick. If you're not patient and intelligent enough to raise a child without resorting to violence, you need to seriously reconsider how fit you are to be a parent.

What you're describing I would more classify as child abuse, than "proper" corporal punishment.

 

[BigJim]

On a side note, I also think it's extremely destructive for teachers to punish students in any way at all for making mistakes in learning. My second-grade teacher punished me with humiliation one day for not knowing how to read something. She didn't swat me; she made me sit for an hour in the first-grade classroom next door. There's a better way to deal with a student not knowing something: just calmly explain it and say "don't worry, practice it a little more and you'll get it." Believe it or not, teachers sometimes can get good results by treating students as partners in a common goal, even at age six or seven.

I could not agree more. I think it shows a lack of imagination and a terribly fragile and undersized ego when a teacher feels it necessary to do such a thing.

 

[Mister Scruff]

What you're describing I would more classify as child abuse, than "proper" corporal punishment.

There's no such thing as "proper" corporal punishment. I do believe there's a lot of hysteria surrounding the issue and that doesn't help, but it's still not a reasonable way to raise a kid or teach it right from wrong. You're not a child-abuser if you give your kids the occasional smack when they do something wrong; you're just a shit parent.

 

[BigJim]

There's no such thing as "proper" corporal punishment. I do believe there's a lot of hysteria surrounding the issue and that doesn't help, but it's still not a reasonable way to raise a kid or teach it right from wrong. You're not a child-abuser if you give your kids the occasional smack when they do something wrong; you're just a shit parent.

What is it, in your opinion, that makes it "shit"?

 

[WorkInProgress]

I think taking any one action and making it the mark of a "shit parent" is unrealistic and unfair. It's the total package of parenting that makes the difference, not one component blown up by itself.

 

[Mister Scruff]

What is it, in your opinion, that makes it "shit"?

The fact a person has to resort to physical harm to teach a child right from wrong. It's not "the only way they'll learn", despite what advocates of smacking might have you believe. It's the only way you know how to teach them, because you're a shit parent, but it's not the ONLY way.

Is cracking someone in the jaw the only way to teach them not to bump into you in a crowd? What about smacking your wife on the arse when she puts too much salt in the spaghetti bolognaise?

I think taking any one action and making it the mark of a "shit parent" is unrealistic and unfair. It's the total package of parenting that makes the difference, not one component blown up by itself.

I agree, however the fact that someone needs to resort to physical violence to teach speaks of a lack of patience and general laziness that's likely to spill over into other areas of parenthood aside from discipline. I don't see the kind of person who smacks their child being the kind of person who spends time sitting down with their child and talking, or taking them to feed the ducks and whatnot.

 

[BigJim]

The fact a person has to resort to physical harm to teach a child right from wrong. It's not "the only way they'll learn", despite what advocates of smacking might have you believe. It's the only way you know how to teach them, because you're a shit parent, but it's not the ONLY way.

That last half sentence has never been denied.

Is cracking someone in the jaw the only way to teach them not to bump into you in a crowd? What about smacking your wife on the arse when she puts too much salt in the spaghetti bolognaise?

I assume you confuse an honest mistake with an act of willful disobedience and a fully (or hopefully) socially trained adult with a child?

I agree, however the fact that someone needs to resort to physical violence to teach speaks of a lack of patience and general laziness that's likely to spill over into other areas of parenthood aside from discipline. I don't see the kind of person who smacks their child being the kind of person who spends time sitting down with their child and talking, or taking them to feed the ducks and whatnot.

Then you would be utterly wrong. You categorise all parents who smack with bad communicators and those who don't spend time with their kids, which is both unfair and untrue.

 

[Mister Scruff]

I assume you confuse an honest mistake with an act of willful disobedience and a fully (or hopefully) socially trained adult with a child?

So if my wife was wilfully disobedient it'd be okay to give her a clip round the ear?

Kids are human beings too, and as human beings they have the same inviolable right not to be hit as you or I do. I'm not even saying that smacking your kids should be banned by law, because trying to legislate for individuals is difficult and dangerous; all I'm saying is hitting kids is wrong in the same way as hitting adults would be, and it's neither the most effective nor the most constructive way to discipline a child. You can do it if you want, you should just be aware that it's stupid.

Then you would be utterly wrong. You categorise all parents who smack with bad communicators and those who don't spend time with their kids, which is both unfair and untrue.

In the case of a parent who wouldn't usually resort to smacking, but who for some reason loses their temper and smacks their kid in a fit of pique, I'd say you're right. It is unfair to suggest that people who raise their kids with care and patience are damned by a very occasional lapse in self-control.

In the case of a person whose entire approach to parenting is predicated on violence I think it's very fair, and indeed very true, to suggest that such people are intellectual midgets who should extend their philosophy of physical chastisement to people their own size.

 

[gluestick]

So if my wife was wilfully disobedient it'd be okay to give her a clip round the ear?

I think your analogy is a bit off. By your argument the right thing to do would be to find a "constructive" way to punish your wife. Aside from role play does anyone in a healthy marriage actually punish their spouse? The role of discipline is for parents, not spouses. If I tried giving my wife a timeout I think I'd be the one getting a clip around the ear.

I can understand your distaste for CP and I actually think your opinion is in the majority. I gave my take before so I'm not going to repeat myself. i just think you're way off calling it a "stupid" way to parent.

 

[BigJim]

So if my wife was wilfully disobedient it'd be okay to give her a clip round the ear?

Precisely where you get that analogy from, I have no idea. I said exactly the opposite.

On an interesting sidenote to anyone who's interested, until about a decade ago, you could have punished a wife in the same way as a child (Rule of Thumb) and not broken the law.

Kids are human beings too, and as human beings they have the same inviolable right not to be hit as you or I do.

I don't think the two ideas can be compared. Adminstering a calm and collected dose of corporal punishment on a child who is yours, or in whom you are in loco parentis of, does not compare to assaulting an adult. The legal and moral rights of minors and adults are different in many ways. The world would be fucking crackers were this not the case. That doesn'tprove that smacking is right or wrong, it just proves your argument here is dodgier than an Arthur Daley car.
I think quite a few people may agree that they wouldn't be sorry to see adults who commit certain criminal offences exposed to it either (I'm undecided on that one). Michael Fay, anyone?

I'm not even saying that smacking your kids should be banned by law, because trying to legislate for individuals is difficult and dangerous; all I'm saying is hitting kids is wrong in the same way as hitting adults would be, and it's neither the most effective nor the most constructive way to discipline a child. You can do it if you want, you should just be aware that it's stupid.

Personally I think it would be much easier to do than trying to have a law that allows it, but says you must differentiate between reasonable and unreasonable (which is what we have at the moment).

In the case of a parent who wouldn't usually resort to smacking, but who for some reason loses their temper and smacks their kid in a fit of pique, I'd say you're right. It is unfair to suggest that people who raise their kids with care and patience are damned by a very occasional lapse in self-control.

In the case of a person whose entire approach to parenting is predicated on violence I think it's very fair, and indeed very true, to suggest that such people are intellectual midgets who should extend their philosophy of physical chastisement to people their own size.

Considering your obvious disdain for the intellectual capacity of anyone who is a proponent (and I am thus assuming you consider yourself to be both a skeptic and intelligent), I am surprised you cannot tell the difference between someone "whose entire approach to parenting is predicated on violence" and someone for whom it is a single option within a myriad.