the spanking debate isn’t all that complicated. you’re either ok with hitting small kids who are completely defenseless and literally at your mercy, or you’re not. supporting the first option makes you a bad and dangerous person, and unfit to be a parent, and im sorry to say but there’s no way around this, no excuses or loopholes. it is what it is
I’ve told this story before and my clam chowder is getting cold but fuck it.
A couple years ago while I was working for a care center during my ece training – we had a big thing about spankings. We went around and asked children who were spanked how they felt about it and what it told them or how it made them feel.
Then when the parents were over, we anonymously read everything that was said by the children on how they view spankings and unanimously it was found that the children never saw it as a growing experience.
It was “painful” “really scary” “I thought mommy hated me now” and we often found it never actually TAUGHT the kids what they did wrong. in fact it seemed to teach them that at any moment your mommy or daddy would just haul up and smack you until you cried and said it was for your own good.
Needless to say I’m pretty sure we changed a lot of parents opinions on spanking and SHOCK OF SHOCKS actually TALKING to their children worked far better disiplinary
I even included my own story, pretending I was telling an outside story “well, I happened to know one person who’s mother only stopped spanking them cause they got tall and big real fast so they could fight back. so there’s a lot of intimidation and fear to your children.” and just – I’ll never forget the dawning look of realization on their faces
The most common argument I hear is, “Look, my parents spanked me and I turned out fine.”
Stolen from elsewhere on the internet but now my defult response: “No you didn’t–you think it is okay to hit little kids.”