re: Spanking is no different than hitting

quote:

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There's nothing special about a kid's arse that makes it different than hitting them somewhere else on their body.

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The buttocks are safer than hitting on the face/head or in other places due to the butt having more fat and also due to its placement in relation to vital organs.

In spanking them on the butt, they aren't in danger of having brain injuries (you can get a concussion from being smacked too hard in the face) and the butt does not contain any vital organs that will be damaged by slapping them there. The only risk that I see associated with the placement would be a very hard hit that misses the mark and damages their spine, but anyone who is so angry that they can't see straight enough to spank appropriately shouldn't be spanking them at that time, anyway; they should be calm and collected before physically reprimanding a child. And a hit hard enough to damage the spine is definitely too hard.

As has been pointed out, CPS (not saying everything they say is gospel) even makes the distinction between spanking and "beating" a child.

Spanking reinforces the idea of negative consequences for certain behaviors in a way that is real to everyone (except those with a special condition where they cannot experience pain). While children don't always get the logic or reason why they should and should not do something, they understand pain is an unpleasant thing and that if pain is associated to a particular behavior, they will be less inclined to participate in that behavior.

What I think is more important than the type of punishment (spankings, timeouts, removal of privileges, etc.) is consistency.