Ummm...just how many times does one have to be "paddled" before it works wonders...seems the first time didn't work for you...you needed an additional paddling to get the point across?
Two different offenses, separated by two years time.
That must have been lovely for you...to have to submit to a humilation that does very little to curb inappropriate behaviors.
I will grant that it was humiliating. However, it did curb that particular behavior (the first time I was paddled was for being a smart aleck). I was never a smart aleck in the rest of my school career. The second was for talking at an inappropriate time. That I did do again, but not in that teacher's class.
Obviously getting smacked around didn't worry you enough not to keep it from happening again. Overwhelming statistics show that children who are spanked are more violent, have less problem solving skills and higher incidence of depression later in life.
Please show me these "overwhelming" statistics.
Also, from my perusing of the literature on corporal punishment, the problems that you state (violence, problem solving skills, and depression) are caused in "children who are spanked" is actually referring to children who are physically abused. The two groups are not the same. Most children who are spanked are not physically abused.
Also, when Sweden totally banned spanking in the early 1980s, they had three very negative results. The first is that major incidences of child abuse (i.e. the ones that required medical attention) went up greatly. Child on adult violence increased, and child on child violence increased. While Sweden wasn't violent before (and admittedly wasn't much more violent afterwards), it didn't become less violent due to the banning of spankings. It became slightly worse. Interestingly, in the same time period, those same statistics improved in the U.S.
Children learn what they live. Quelling bad behavior in "basically good kids"...what does that even mean?!
All kids exhibit bad behavior at times. If they don't, I would wonder what was wrong with them. Basically good kids are kids that have been given limits, and usually adhere to them. They sometimes need punishment (when they go over those limits), and spanking usually keeps them on the straight and narrow for quite a long time. I know I haven't been a smart aleck in front of an authority figure since I was 13.
children misbehave for many reasons and teaching them that making mistakes will result in violence being committed against them is outrageous. I don't agree with the "let them do as they please b/c they are children" school of thought either, but to support violence in any way is misguided and potentially dangerous.
Spanking is not violence. Violence is defined as physical force exerted for the purpose of violating, damaging, or abusing. Spanking is not violence, as it's purpose is to discourage bad behavior, not to damage or violate or abuse.
Also, don't think that I use spanking as the main way I mold my kids' behavior. It is the last resort, and primarily when other methods don't work. Praise of appropriate behavior is the best way to produce good kids, and is the one I use the most. Sometimes, though, it doesn't work, and consequences need to be applied. Timeouts, groundings, etc. are used, but they don't always work either.
