Spanking: Legitimate parental choice or act of aggression?

[Christian Liberty]

This is a silly little side topic but I wound up getting into a discussion about it recently so I'm curious what you all think. Is spanking an NAP violation or a valid parenting option?

[Christian Liberty]

Note that when I say "unacceptable" I mean something that should be prohibited by law. So, if you personally don't support spanking but you don't think its somehow a violation of your political principles, you should vote accordingly.

[Natural Citizen]

It's a class G felony to spank your child where I live.

Now, irrelevant of that, I've never once spanked my kid. Ever. And he did everything right.

[Christian Liberty]

It's a class G felony to spank your child where I live.

Now, irrelevant of that, I've never once spanked my kid. Ever. And he did everything right.

Class G? Are you in Delaware? (That's the only state I know of that makes it a crime.) And, you guys have "G" felonies? In NYS it only went down to E.

[LibertyEagle]

Why do you want the government to tell you how to raise your children? Interesting, since you call yourself an Ancap.

[Christian Liberty]

Why do you want the government to tell you how to raise your children?

Did you even look at my vote? I put it on public record.


I posed the question for discussion because I was curious if anyone would disagree with me, but I do not believe that spanking one's child is inherently wrong, inherently an NAP violation, or something that should be prohibited.

[Natural Citizen]

Class G? Are you in Delaware? (That's the only state I know of that makes it a crime.)

Yep. For now. I'm probably heading back home in the next decade though.

I'm undecided on your poll.

[LibertyEagle]

I guess I look at it differently. Even if a person thought it "unacceptable", to me that means that would impact how they parented their own children. It wouldn't necessarily mean that the person wanted government to pass a law to force every other parent to march in lockstep.

[William Tell]

Did you even look at my vote? I put it on public record.


I posed the question for discussion because I was curious if anyone would disagree with me, but I do not believe that spanking one's child is inherently wrong, inherently an NAP violation, or something that should be prohibited.

No, LE raised a good point. That you did not have an option for it being wrong but not prohibited by law. Having such an option would give you more interesting results probably.
Spanking is fine, I don't care what term you slap on it. NAP has become a joke, maybe it always was one.

[Christian Liberty]

I guess I look at it differently. Even if a person thought it "unacceptable", to me that means that would impact how they parented their
own children. It wouldn't necessarily mean that the person wanted government to pass a law to force every other parent to march in lockstep.

OK, I understand and I agree. My poll was probably poorly worded for what I was going for.

[William Tell]

Any ancap who wants to ban spanking, should have his butt whipped, NAP be damned

[Suzanimal]

I guess I look at it differently. Even if a person thought it "unacceptable", to me that means that would impact how they parented their own children. It wouldn't necessarily mean that the person wanted government to pass a law to force every other parent to march in lockstep.

I don't like spanking children, I never spanked mine but I don't think there should be a law against it.

I voted yes (it is aggression) but it's fine (I took that to mean it shouldn't be illegal). Did I vote right?

[Christian Liberty]

When you're an ancap you're particular peculiarities when it comes to laws supported doesn't actually matter, because its never going to be one individual or one group of individuals deciding....

[Christian Liberty]

I don't like spanking children, I never spanked mine but I don't think there should be a law against it.

I voted yes (it is aggression) but it's fine (I took that to mean it shouldn't be illegal). Did I vote right?

Yes.

[William Tell]

I don't like spanking children, I never spanked mine but I don't think there should be a law against it.

I should have been spanked more, I was a nasty little thing. Spanking was the only way to deal with me, I remember how I used to be in nasty moods, and did bad things. And yes, children often know they are doing bad things. When I was spanked, I knew I had lost, and I calmed down.

[presence]

Beating your children is evil.
Getting your child's rapid attention is sometimes necessary.

Malum In Se.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malum_in_se


We don't need another rule for this form of conduct. Battery covers it pretty well. If its not battery its not an issue. I have no problem with spanking per se.


That said, my son is a severe hemophiliac; I'd never spank him. Cup of cold ice water to the face? Yeah he gets one of those from time to time.

[Suzanimal]

I should have been spanked more, I was a nasty little thing. Spanking was the only way to deal with me, I remember how I used to be in nasty moods, and did bad things. And yes, children often know they are doing bad things. When I was spanked, I knew I had lost, and I calmed down.

I could never bring myself to spank the cute little boogers. I relied on the "stink-eye", toy jail, and talking until I'm blue in the face methods.

[Carson]

I think at times it was a good reality check for me.

Sometimes you need to have your attention focused before something serious happens. And the world is full of serious consequences.

[amy31416]

My child will not be spanked, it's not right for her. I can't say if it's right for other children...but if you think it is, you might want to reassess your parenting before you do it again.

[BuddyRey]

My parents didn't (and still don't) believe in spanking, and having seen the results of their experiment in peaceful parenting, I completely agree with them. There was always plenty of discipline in the house, but none of it was achieved through threats of physical violence. Instead, my folks would appeal to our conscience when we would act out, and ask us how we'd feel if someone had done something similar to us. As a result, we didn't grow up knowing that meanness, stealing, name-calling, etc. were bad because "we might get caught", but because they negatively affected the feelings, wholeness, and happiness of others.

[amy31416]

Note that when I say "unacceptable" I mean something that should be prohibited by law. So, if you personally don't support spanking but you don't think its somehow a violation of your political principles, you should vote accordingly.

I voted before I read what you meant by "unacceptable." I can not say how others should raise their children, and except for genuine abuse that I couldn't help resolve, would never sic the police on them.

[Working Poor]

A slight thump on the rump on a young child to get attention I think is fine but, I cannot abide by striking multiple times, using belts, paddles, or other objects to inflict lasting pain. If they are old enough to speak they are old enough to talk to if they are too young to speak then be gentle and guide them with a loving hand.

The "rod" spoken about in the bible was a guiding tool the shepards used to keep the sheep from falling off the edge of a cliff or guide them away from danger it was not something that the sheep were beaten with. In a since we are shepherds for our children and we want them to love us a run to us when they hear are voice not cower and be afraid of us.

[tod evans]

Every family dynamic is different.

I would no more tell you how to raise your child than I would tolerate you trying to tell me how to raise mine.

[Schifference]

I think the society we live in has a bearing on this.
I have had dogs my entire adult life. I have had plenty of exposure to methods of dog training. Many of which use choke collars and repetitious corrections and of course always ending a training session on a positive note. I have had 4 Dobermans never more than 1 at a time. Doberman's are strong willed dogs that can try your patience and can be very destructive.
A year ago April we acquired a Doberman puppy that was only 5 weeks old. We had recently moved to a place that has a couple of acres and is bordered with miles of woods. This dog has had no formal training and gets to do as she pleases for the most part. She is the most loyal and best dog I have ever had. She walks on a leash even though she has hardly ever been on one and responds to my requests.
I could not have acquired these same results had we raised this dog in the city in a fenced in yard. All the other Dobermans when young would run away as soon as you would take them off leash and it was always a struggle to find them in the woods. If you left a gate open the dog would be gone.
This dog always wants to be by your side and besides going in the woods rarely leaves the property.
The point is if we raised our children on a stretch of land that was far away from others with little contact with the outside world and didn't have all the comfort distractions that society mandates I would bet there would not ever be a need to be aggressive with your children.
I have raised 4 children never in a country setting. All children intelligent and test off the charts. When young a spanking taught them who was boss what the consequence was to question the boss's authority. After a memorable spanking at an age where they could acknowledge that something wrong had been done the threat of a spanking was all that would be necessary to get keep them inline.
However, I have taught all my kids to speak their mind and were never disciplined for a difference of opinion. The older the children became the more freedom they had to do whatever they wanted with the understanding that they were responsible for the outcome.

[donnay]

Every family dynamic is different.

I would no more tell you how to raise your child than I would tolerate you trying to tell me how to raise mine.

/\ I totally agree.

I do not think spanking is wrong, in the sense that it is an open hand on the child's backside or a slap on their hand for touching something they shouldn't be. Saying "no-no" to a 2 year old sometimes doesn't send the message to them.

[Carson]

So you've got a kid running out in to heavy traffic. Do you grab them and give them a spank or do you let the bus handle it?

[Carson]

There is good and bad in everything.

What are you going to do when reasoning doesn't stop a spanker?

[donnay]

A slight thump on the rump on a young child to get attention I think is fine but, I cannot abide by striking multiple times, using belts, paddles, or other objects to inflict lasting pain. If they are old enough to speak they are old enough to talk to if they are too young to speak then be gentle and guide them with a loving hand.

The "rod" spoken about in the bible was a guiding tool the shepards used to keep the sheep from falling off the edge of a cliff or guide them away from danger it was not something that the sheep were beaten with. In a since we are shepherds for our children and we want them to love us a run to us when they hear are voice not cower and be afraid of us.

Proverbs 13:24 (KJV)

He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.


Proverbs 19:18 (KJV)

Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

[Carson]

I suppose we should all be very careful expressing an opinion in this thread.

I grew up in a time when some spanked liberally and some refrained. Refraining seemed to work the best to me.

Then along came the counterfeiters laying down the zero tolerance law on things. They have unlimited funds to see to it that we live as they say. They will tell you that any physical interaction is wrong... then they will kick down your door, beat the hell out of you to force you to agree with things being their way.

I suppose they might be investigating some of us at this very moment as to whether we have children and are totally subservient to their latest zero tolerance policies. Many of us don't as some of their first counterfeiting of the currency was going into Zero Population Growth. They told us in grade school it was to try and control the population because there wasn't going to be enough water and things like room on the roads. At the same time the opened the flood gates to legal and illegal immigration but that is another story. Talk about a spanking!

[Danke]

Depends on their looks.