I can only speak from my own experience as a fathe of five, grandfather of five, police officer for n40 years that investigated child abuse and President of my school board of education.
From the time my children were toddlers I let them know what is wrong to do in their activities, such as if they went to an electric outlet, I immediately went to tehm, said no firmly and removed them from the outlet. If they continued, I did it once or twice more but if they continued, I lightly patted their hand when they reached for it and removed them. I did this over and over increasing the force from a light pat to a gentle slap each time and when removing them trying to interest their mind in something else. Eventually they got the message, some of my kids earliet than others but as they grew up, I very seldom had to punish them by spanking, but I did once or thrice.
I saw the outcome of many types of child abuse and there is a line between corporal punishment and abuse and that line is not only physical evidence of abuse but also mental evidence of abuse. Abuse is not just physical.
In our schools we did have "paddling" as corporal punishment, but it was after parents had agreed to it and the student had the choice of a paddle or in school suspension. You'd be surprised how many took the paddle. There were always witnesses to the paddling (parent and teacher or teacher and counselor) and never more than three swats with a paddle and never on bare skin.
My kids turned out fantastically and so did most of our students. We even had kids from bad city schools and neighborhoods that turned out good after coming to our school.
From the time my children were toddlers I let them know what is wrong to do in their activities, such as if they went to an electric outlet, I immediately went to tehm, said no firmly and removed them from the outlet. If they continued, I did it once or twice more but if they continued, I lightly patted their hand when they reached for it and removed them. I did this over and over increasing the force from a light pat to a gentle slap each time and when removing them trying to interest their mind in something else. Eventually they got the message, some of my kids earliet than others but as they grew up, I very seldom had to punish them by spanking, but I did once or thrice.
I saw the outcome of many types of child abuse and there is a line between corporal punishment and abuse and that line is not only physical evidence of abuse but also mental evidence of abuse. Abuse is not just physical.
In our schools we did have "paddling" as corporal punishment, but it was after parents had agreed to it and the student had the choice of a paddle or in school suspension. You'd be surprised how many took the paddle. There were always witnesses to the paddling (parent and teacher or teacher and counselor) and never more than three swats with a paddle and never on bare skin.
My kids turned out fantastically and so did most of our students. We even had kids from bad city schools and neighborhoods that turned out good after coming to our school.
