Spare the rod, spoil the child

[Mystical]

The trouble is that they neglect something very basic, very simple, very obvious: each kid is an individual with individual needs and individual disciplinary requirements.
A "one size fits all" recipe will never work.
A book's guidelines will never fit with any particular kid.

This!

And there's the rub.

So let me get this straight. You're saying that whether or not a kid needs spanked, is their fault????

Several posters on here alone have conveyed that spanking is not required. Its a choice. You choose to hit your kid or not. There's aLways an alternative and if parents choose not to follow through with the more taxing alternatives (like taking the dancing climbing kid on a chair to the park to get his energy out), then spanking that child is merely a tool of laziness.
Honestly Jacob, I can't even fathom how your daughter got where she is but I guarantee it has nothing to do with whether or not you spanked her.
I suggest you take the time and do some therapy with her. She seems so far withdrawn from her family that shed call the police on you and you act like this is just normal kid stuff. Maybe in your income bracket kind sir, but not in mine.

Luckie, you said

We aren't talking about the person who occasionally has to refer to a spanking now and then, we are talking about spanking used as corporal punishment. 

That's exactly what I am talking about! What you're talking about is wrong. No doubt, and no argument. If you're using objects or leaving bruises you're harming the child. We're on the same page there I think. But some people on this thread are talking about ALL physical punishment in the same way. That's my point! It's not a black and white issue.

Well, it kinda is. To physically cause pain to your own child through your own actions, or to not. If you believe that certain pain inflicted on children is acceptable, that's fine. But remember first: do no harm. You said present a study and we will take an in depth look at it. I presented two, one of which documents real tangible physical alterations to the brain that are negative. Boru also gave an example of why hitting your kid breaks trust they have for you. The studies I presented that pave the way for medical organizations policies show that spanking doesn't work as an effective tool for discipline when its the only form of discipline. I think you guys are fighting about nothing. Slapping a kids hand to keep them from touching a hot plate and slapping a kids hand for not using the fork right are two totally different scenarios

So, little 4 year old jimmy is standing on a chair and dancing, when you find him.
You bring him down from there and tell him not to do it again, because he may fall and hurt himself badly.

5 minutes later, you find him doing the exact same thing.
You bring him down again and now you raise your voice a bit and let him know that he cannot stand on the chair. You take away the music and the toy he has in his hand.

5 minutes later, he's back there.

So, as a parent, would you rather keep defying odds and keep finding him defying gravity or would you prefer to instill in him the fear of you finding he's dancing in a tall place which he knows (or has been told and has minimally understood) that's potentially bad for him?
Or... please share your ideas on dealing with a kid like this, if you find this is a false dichotomy (which it most likely is!)

Consider the not so distant time when he'll figure out that he can stack chairs or stools and climb them so he can be even higher...

The same for properly packing or storing toys left on the floor where people, including him, can trip, slip and fall.... and so many other situations where, at a young age, hypothetical consequences are less considered than the overseer threat and very possible action...

Life isn't black and white and you can alter future events. Put Jimmy in a timeout after the first warning, for instance. Make Jimmy go clean his room. Tell Jimmy to go play outside (although this involves work on your part watching him). Take Jimmy to a jungle gym (again, work on your part). At what point do you not realize that referring to spanking for daily living punishments you're merely seeking immediate result at the cost of your Childs psychological well being? The study addressed corporal punishment, not conditional spanking. Depression, aggression, anti social behaviour are the result.

Let me re-iterate this since y'all seem to be getting heated. Conditional spanking and corporal punishment with spanking is not the same thing and is differentiated in the studies.

My point is this: I don't fucking trust people in general to be their own arbiters of justice when it comes to dealing out physical assault on helpless children. A small population of spankers can seem to handle using it as an effective tool, but a majority cannot. Its a social problem.