<p>I was beat with a belt quite a few times, as well as with other miscellaneous items like spoons and brushes. </p>
<p>I remember hoping that my mom would be the one to punish me instead of my dad, because she didn’t hit as hard. Of course I cried and tried to run away at times, but I knew that once they pinned me down it would be worse so I stopped that.</p>
<p>I can’t say that it adversely affected me, I don’t think I was hit past middle school at the latest. Of course, other issues with my parents certainly had an impact (alcoholism, anger, etc) but I definitely don’t feel like I’ve been scarred from being hit with a belt. I never associated anything beyond “uh oh I really messed up this time” whenever I was hit and when it was over wasn’t scared of my parents or anything. I respected them, for sure, and I believe corporal punishment was a good deterrent for me. My parents weren’t my buddies or people I was allowed to argue with. It was yes ma’am no ma’am and no back talk allowed. We weren’t equals, there was a definite division of power. </p>
<p>However, I still love them a whole lot and I talk to them a few times a week. I’m 19 years old and have clear plans for my life, so getting hit with a belt certainly didn’t completely derail me.</p>
<p>I found out about this when my son brought home a stack of papers the first day of school explaining their discipline rules and a form we could use to “opt out” of letting the school strike our child. We thought it must be outdated and called the school. Upon learning it was true, we made an appointment and met with the principal. Before we went I did a little research and found cases of children being hit whose parents had not given permission but those forms got “lost.” </p>
<p>During the meeting, I expressed my disappointment that a public school chose to deal with it’s most troubled students by hitting them. The principal tried to reassure us by explaining the so-called logic behind it, which only made the whole thing seem more barbaric. We also brought a letter with us explaining that our son was not to be touched by anyone in the school for punishment, we were to be called instead and if they ignored that we would press charges and sue. We signed it in front of the principal and had copies made for our son’s file and teacher. </p>
<p>It’s shameful that this is legal. Truly shameful.</p>
<p>To me, a spank definitely isn’t a beating. When i think of someone getting a beating, I think of a poor, abused child or someone getting mugged. When I think of a kid getting spanked, I think of a quick swat to butt, plain and simple.
Most of the time I was sent to a time-out but every once in a while I’d get a spanking. It only lasted until I was five, so I only got 6-7 spankings. I never even cried because it really didn’t hurt much, my parents never intended it to be painful. It wasn’t done out of anger, it was simply done as emphasis, and I have absolutely no hard feelings towards my parents.</p>
<p>A slap, IMO isn’t a spank either. A slap is to the face, something my parents would never ever do to me. A swat to the butt and a slap to the face are COMPLETELY different. </p>
<p>Personally, I’m alright with spanking. When I have kids I’ll send them to a time-out, just like my parents did with me. By the time I have kids it’ll probably be illegal to hug my own child let alone spank them.so spanking is out of the question.</p>
<p>^^^^^^I was surprised to read that corporal punishment in public schools is legal in 21 states.</p>
<p>However, that doesn’t mean that every school district in those states implements it. Several area school districts where I live prohibit it regardless of the law. Others do require parental permission. A couple have it on the books, yet have ceased using it despite the fact that they “can.” It’s not like all the kids in Texas are getting daily beatings. </p>
<p>My daughter attends a private school which would never use that tactic. There are many private schools in my city, and I would be surprised if any of them would implement corporal punishment. Possibly some very small conservative religious schools, but that’s just conjecture on my part.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, Thank you for sharing that link. Hitting children is not effective in the long run not, which takes away the one justification, not to mention being inhumane. It’s simply a matter of time before it becomes socially unexceptable. </p>
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<p>I agree. The first lets the person doing the hitting turn the child around so they don’t have to see their face. It depersonalizes the child just enough.</p>