To spank or not to spank

Should Florida ban corporal punishment in schools?
Yes, adults shouldn't hit kids.
No, spare the rod, spoil the child.

Comments

[momto3]

I'm not anti-spanking, but I do not believe it belongs in schools. As a former teacher, I believe there are many more effective and appropriate ways to deal with misbehavior than a spanking. I also don't believe it is my right to hit someone else's child. It is a parent's decision about how to discipline his or her child. There is a great debate about spanking at www.opposingviews.com/questions/is-spanking-an-acceptable-form-of-discipline Experts from both sides debate the issue and make some excellent points...good read on the topic!

Spare the rod, Save a psyche!

Knock them all around a little. It will help their confidence, teach them restraint and inspire creativity.

Teachers should be able to pop any kid who sasses them right in the mouth.

Why stop at spanking a bottom when you can hook em with a full on uppercut to the jaw?

I, as a teacher and a parent, think this is a terrible idea. I would NEVER hit one of my students, but I might just hit a teacher if they struck one of my sons! Discipline belongs in the hands of a parent.

Beat them down till their (evil) spirit breaks! Then beat down all the posers whining about kids getting beat down.

[publicschoolteacher]

I am not an anti-spanking mom. Let me start with that. Although I have never formally put my kids over my knee, they have received the occasional swat as they shuffled off to their rooms for indefinite groundings.

But I would never want a school official, administrator, or teacher to hit my children. I can't imagine an educator nowadays who would be okay with that. It is our job as teachers to notify the parents when a kid is misbehaving, and the parents are SUPPOSED to take it from there, using their preferred method of discipline to reinforce the school's policy. And if the parents choose NOT to discipline their kids (with spanking or otherwise), it is them who have failed their children, not the schools.

[J-Man]

First...not every child will need to be spanked, but a parent should be open to it. After all, by withholding discipline from a child, who are you helping...yourself?
Is it just easier to not do the hard thing? Letting things slide until later in life the child will grow up to recognize little or no authority but themselves; breeding selfishness and self-centeredness. The truth is that authority does exist, and it will have justice; real consequences exist, and they will be felt and possibly lived with for life. Wouldn't a caring and attentive parent want to teach their child that choices have a consequence…that breaking the rules leads to discomfort?
For us in adult-hood, it often looks like financial difficulty; late fees, monthly bills that continue to pile up because of living beyond our means. Sometimes it's broken relationships with people we love because we decided to, "live for the moment" and are now bearing the hurt of a broken home...maybe not even getting to see our children.
Should a school carry out discipline? Not in a perfect world, but look around...it's not a perfect world...so we can have a heated argument over how things should be, and I'd agree. But I don't have that luxury...there's a real little girl that's counting on her daddy to protect her from evil and hurt in this world...I love her dearly, and I'm going to do the hard thing, if she ever needs it, she'll get a spanking. And I expect that if I do the right thing...the school spankings will never apply to her.