Thursday, September 18, 2014

KEEPING CORPORAL PUNISHMENT FROM BECOMING CHILD ABUSE

Never ever administer corporal punishment while you are angry!

I am a strong advocate of corporal punishment. I believe the ‘Don’t Hit Your Child’ fanatics are full of shit when they claim that kids who are subjected to corporal punishment will become violent adolescents and adults.

My own experiences as a child were at times painfully laughable. My father had a teutonic temper. Whenever I pissed him off, and that was often, I would receive an ohrfeige – a slap in the face (literally a punch in the ear) - and believe me it wasn’t a love slap. He rang my chimes hundreds of times. Did his form of corporal punishment make me violence-prone? Of course not! On the contrary, it made me a stronger and better person. I really miss my dad, although not the ohrfeigen.

The problem with corporal punishment is that it often crosses the line between punishment and child abuse. That is what happened with NFL star Adrian Peterson who spanked his son with a switch, causing several injuries.

I have a cardinal rule that, if followed, will never result in corporal punishment becoming a case of child abuse: Never ever administer corporal punishment while you are angry!

Whenever my kids made me angry, my personal method was to send them to their rooms and tell them I would be in shortly to give them a good spanking. Then I would wait until I had completely cooled down before entering their room to administer their punishment.

Of course, we are talking about punishing pre-adolescents. By the time kids are in their mid-teens there are better options than corporal punishment. Withholding of certain privileges can be effective.

If you use a paddle, or a switch like Peterson did, you have to be extra careful, otherwise you may end up injuring your child even when you are not angry. The open hand on the butt works just as well as a paddle or switch.

Remember: Never ever administer corporal punishment while you are angry!

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