Corporal Punishment RematchFollow

I think public lashings/canings would be cheaper than jail time for a lot of things. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Only for fun and only if it's consensual but if you're both up for it grab the bullwhip, canes, knives and candles for all I'm concerned.

Is it ever acceptable or even preferable to use the threat of physical punishment to discipline or raise a child?

No. Not really an open question.

How about adults?

Yes, but only prior to the oral sex.

I agree with Poldaran. I think if some punishments were public events again, people might rethink action.

I was spanked as a child. Smack as a teen. It made me rethink actions, because "pain" could be the outcome in the end. Even as an adult if I drop the wrong words around my Mother and she is not having a good day, I may get a smack.
Did they hurt as a kid? I don't really think so, it was the shock value. I think it hurt my parents more that they had to do it. You can only tell a kid so many times "no" before you have to get the point across in a different manner.
I can tell you I never tried sticking something in a power socket again, I never tried to do the cartoon thing with pepper (to sneeze) again, or any of the other stupid **** I did and said as a kid/teen that would have ended maybe worst.
This however is with me, I envy my brothers will all the stuff they were able to get a way with. It was like my parents didn't care the 2nd and 3rd time around.

I think only a small portion of people might learn from from embarrassment.
There are a few clowns in my town that make the local and county paper all the time. It doesn't seem to bother them that everyone knows they get drunk and do stupid things.

Safety 1st. Why would you want to get exposed to all the germs if they managed to get closer. Might want to get a large stick to push them away, to a safer distance.

Eh, the taboo alone is enough to make it exciting for people and pain releases some amount of adrenaline and whatnot so it's really not that odd, especially when you add in the power thing. Plus you don't exactly have to go as far as the bullwhips and beating till you're bleeding stage.

No, but sometimes necessary. Life's full of these little conundrums.

Spankings should always be an option for child discipline. As for adult lashing, from what I've seen, those tend to be intense. I think rules of "leaving marks" should be consistent with adults.

He did it wrong then. I really think that the first problem we have when discussing corporal punishment is that we first need to establish what exactly we're talking about. Lashing out at someone in a fit of anger is not the standard we should be discussing. That's wrong. Period. It's wrong if you do it to an adult in a bar who **** you off, and it's wrong if you do it to your child as a means of "teaching them a lesson". It's just wrong. Unfortunately, that's the standard everyone assume when broadly declaring that spanking is wrong, and no parent should ever do it.

Spanking can be a very effective teaching tool if used properly (and sparingly). Doing it every time a child does something wrong makes it ineffective since it fails to make it clear to the child that there are levels of "doing something wrong" and that punishment can escalate if they fail to stop doing whatever it is they're "doing wrong". Also, it should never ever be done while angry. That just teaches the child that hitting people who make you angry is acceptable. The child isn't learning the cause/effect you want in that case. You want to teach the child the concept of consequences, not anger release.

When my siblings and I were children, spankings were almost always administered by our dad. Of course, usually what we'd done occurred during the day when he wasn't there, so part one of the punishment was knowing we'd earned a spanking and having to wait for it to happen. Then, when dad got home, there would be a discussion about what had happened, with both parents agreeing whether a spanking or some other punishment was deserved (and yeah, the child got to plead his/her case at this point, which rarely worked). Finally, if a spanking was agreed upon, the child would be told to go to their room (or parents room, it varied), and wait. So once again with the dreadful waiting. Finally, after 10 minutes or so (to make sure he was in a completely calm mood and not acting out of anger), dad would enter the room with a belt (yes, a belt!), calmly explain what you'd done wrong, why it was wrong, and why it deserved a spanking. This would take another 5 minutes or so. Then, he would deliver the spanking. Usually, there was a few minutes of follow up after that, mostly consisting of him explaining (again) that he didn't enjoy doing this, but that it was necessary, and that the choice to avoid such punishment was wholly in our hands, etc, etc, etc.


IMO, that's the correct way to do it. No one in my family ever developed violent tendencies as a result. We always understood perfectly why we were being punished in this way, and since it was only applied when we'd not just done something wrong, but had then taken some action to compound it (like lying to cover something up), it provided a very good lesson in honesty and the difference between mistakes and intent. There was nothing arbitrary or inconsistent about the process, so we weren't scared of our parents or anything. But it did provide a means for our parents to discipline us when the normal means (groundings, time outs, etc) fail. And it was an exceptionally rare event, precisely because it was done properly. We learned not to do the things that would lead to a spanking and thus they didn't occur often (I think I was spanked maybe 3 times). It worked. Very very well. Meanwhile, I see children who are veritable hellions while their well meaning parents simply can't contain them because they refuse to engage in any form of corporal punishment. If you're willing to spank your children (and they know it), you'll find that you don't have to often. And you get much better behaved kids. Win win.


At the risk of tossing in a politically relevant point, the same applies to foreign policy. If you show you're willing to use some high level of force, you'll find that no one does anything that requires you to use it. If you go out of your way to tell everyone that you wont use a level of force beyond X, you'll find yourself overwhelmed with enemies acting against you. Speak softy and carry a big stick only works if everyone assumes you'll use it.

Edited, Sep 24th 2014 5:00pm by gbaji

IMO, that's the correct way to do it

There is no "correct way" to physically assault a small child.

No one in my family ever developed violent tendencies as a result.

No, just the inability to think critically, apparently.

I agree that physical harm or threat of physical harm on children can be emotionally damaging on children.. and that NO adult can every know what that truly is because all children are different.

However.. I have also seen some children that absolutely do not listen.. which raises the questions.. is there ever a point where it is too late to instill discipline in a child after they are already "gotten over" all of the empty threats and unenforced rules?

It seems (to me) the most effective manner of discipline for children is ultimately bribery or blackmail.

/WHOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHHH