Hi, was just interested in your opinions on this subject. I read a piece in a book which may be interesting for debate. Please dont lynch me btw
'Myths that surround the use of spanking:
myth: Spanking is harmless.
fact: sspanking makes parenting more difficult because is reduces parents' ability to influene their children, especially when the children are teens and too big to be controlled by phsyical force. Also, authority figures should be trusted and respected, not feared.
myth: I was spanked, and i'm ok
Fact: You made it despite being hit; hitting increases the probability that you are more likely to use agression to handle conflicts
myth: if you dont spank, your children will be spoiled or run wild.
fact: nonspanked children are better behaved than are children of parents who spank. non-spanking parents tend to pay more attention to thier children's behaviour and tend to do more explaining and reasoning, which helps children to develop internal controls.
myth: Prents spank rarely or only for serious problems
fact: Parents who spank tend to use this method for almost any misbehaviour; many do not even give the child a warning - they spank before even trying other things.
myth: It is unrealistic to expect parents to never spank
fact: It is no more unrealistic to expect parents to not hit a child than to expect husbands not to hit their wifes or employers not to hit their employees.'
Source: Fontaine & Fletcher, Mental Health Nursing 5th Edition, 2003, Prentice Hall Press. Adapted from Straus M A (1994) Beating the devil out of them: Corporal punishment in American families, Lexington, MA, Lexington Books
I dont know if I am unusual but I do not smack my ds.