Personally I say beat that fucker.... But still spanking your child isn't bad... And the only real object that you should possible use is a paddle maybe... But still you shouldn't be sent to jail or your child taken away for it. Hell I guess I'm pro spanking here... It helps your kid not grow up to be a Whiney bitch who thinks he can get away with anything and not get punished for it...

[Citation Needed], I was never hit as a child and I understand the concept of consequence well.

Being consequent and punishing being naughty accordingly is one of the most essential parts of raising a child. You don't need to spank or slap for minor offenses. You don't slap if your kid's broken something. Then you point out what they've done wrong and punish them in some other way. I think it's appropriate to slap after your child made an inappropriate remark. If they are being rude, it deserves a light slap. You don't need to express anger or hate while doing it. If the pain lasts for 5 seconds, it's OK.

It's essential that your child understands what it's done wrong. It doesn't help anybody if you slap the child without it knowing what it's done wrong, or if it comes to you to confess something. If they've done something bad, explain what they've done, why it's bad and why they shouldn't do it anymore. Then punish them in a non-physical way. Slapping is a way of associating an act or behaviour or statement such as racial slurs or derogatory terms with an unpleasant feeling. It's teaching them not to use it. You're doing it wrong if your child fears you. You're doing it wrong if it behaves differently among friends when you're looking. However, children can use some discipline, and if they're behaving inappropriately, slapping is a method to stop them from doing it. It's not gonna hurt them mentally. A slap is not going to cause a life-long scars. I don't remember any slaps my mum's given me, but I know she did it when we said bad things or when we spoke back. It's taught me discipline and respect, something I see rarely among today's youth.

The parent needs to be mature enough to see from from the perspective of a child, there are a shitload of variables that affect a kid's behavior, situations, enviorment and upbringing as well as cultural standards need to be put into consideration.

I don't approve of beating the shit out of kids but I think some sort of physical discipline is needed when the proper situation calls for it.

I agree. It doesn't need to be excessive. It can happen once every 2-3 weeks, no more.

I don't agree, every article I read says it needs to be consistent. So if your child calls you a fuckface 5 times in 1 week, and you swatted him on the first one then you should every time. I also agree that the degree of punishment should fit the crime. Can't swat your kid for every little thing of course.

You don't agree based on articles you read?
I think real life experience trumps any paper by whoever in terms of this subject.

Parenting methods are subjective and equivocal. To discipline a particular child based on another persons study just sounds irresponsible to me. Children are individuals too, they have characteristics that are unique only to themselves. Who the fuck is any researcher or doctor to say what's best for every kid?

I disagree, anecdotal evidence does not trump studies.

Studies can only be consistent up to a certain degree and studies can only account for behavior that's common to the behavior of every kid. What kind of perspective does a doctor or researcher have on a kid that's miles away and living under certain conditions that he/she has no experience being in?

I doubt that any person can gain an insight deep enough to truly make an effective study that would apply to every child. I'm not invalidating any research that you guys might refer to. I'm just saying that it will never be enough and no amount studies will compare to the first hand knowledge and personal involvement of a decent parent.

Argalx please change ur avy :P

I think spanking is a good way to make your kid learn their lesson, it also helps for the future when I was a kid I always got spanked, it got me pretty far with my life, i'm living in a condo on the beach in Nova Scotia what do you want more than that, my point is that getting spanked is a good way to give your kid a lesson, my dad always used to spank me that was back then, he tought me to be a gentleman, not to swear. I don't hurt my children, I swear if I didn't get spankings I would be a trashman by now.