Yes they should. It's stupid that parents can't even punish their children anymore. What's a "scolding" going to do? Nothing. It's not going to teach a kid to stop doing wrong things, because it's not a serious punishment. If a kid knows all that's going to happen is they are going to get a scolding, then they will keep doing all the wrong things they do. When I compare the children I knew who were never spanked vs. the ones who were, the ones who weren't were always brats, the parents were their metaphorical slaves, and the ones who were spanked knew their places.

oh yes. i work with people everyday and children ARE OUT OF CONTROL. if there is not descipline at home then that child is lead to believe that they can act however they want whereever they want. im in my mid-20's and if i tried to do some of the things even teenagers are doing today, my mother would still try to tear my rear end up. all this leads to no fear of authority...such as police...however i do believe that some parents can take this to an extreme level, and that should be handled accordingly.

iggggg! spanking, it's absolutely necessary as an option when we're raising our children. there has to be a sensible limit to spanking. if a parent is spanking their child with a switch from a tree for 200 strokes because the child didn't remember to sign her name on her homework, then, spanking has crossed the threshold into child abuse.

Yes. It shouldn't be done out of anger of course. I've spanked my daughter before, especially when she's repeatedly doing things can could cause her serious injury or worse. But my daughter is really active... so time out is actually an effective deterrent when there's no rationalizing with her. When I was a kid time out never worked.... I preferred being alone and could easily entertain myself with daydreams! Spanking sure did though. And I turned out dandy.

Not unless I can start spanking others without being prosecuted. I have a long list of people that really need it.

Yes, spank but not beat.

In Missouri it is legal to spank your child on the butt.

Where I live it is now illegal to spank your child, this doesn't really affect me as my son is now 21 and living away from home. But, I was not a spanker and didn't need it, and my son has turned out fine, I am very proud of him. I never saw the need for physical punishment, but, I also do not beleive that a swat on a well padded butt in a loving home will do the child any major damage. I also feel that governments are becoming babysitters and taking over way too many of the things in life that should be common sense. When it does this I feel that society as a whole loses its ability to self regulate itself and then requires more government controls. I think abuse laws should always be there but I don't think they should ban spanking.

yep, spanking needs to be allowed. Scary that the government feels the need to tell us how to parent.

No. Asserting the right to violence is a big reason why the United States is such a poor world citizen. It is interesting to me what depths people go through to justify their behaviour. I am sure slave owners in the US what have justified their behaviour in a similar manner. Violence begets violence in an endless chain. — Euripides

yes, spanking is differnt the beating, a spanking on the butt with an open hand is fine!

Yes, unquestionably.

Yes. Noone should dictate how we can live out our lives. A spanking is a lot different to beating. Beating a child should mean prosecution, but a slap/spank i have always felt was fine.

yes

Absopositively!!!

Absolutely. I trained horses for many years. Every few years some equine guru would come along with some training method guaranteed to work for any horse, provided you went to enough clinics and spent enough money with them. The truth is, every horse is an individual with their own sets of needs and problems. Some horses will cower and panic if you so much as raise your voice a little. Others are so hard headed that if you aren't pretty hard on them, they'll end up being dangerous. And horses that end up dangerous end up in cans. You have to tailor your training methods to the horse you are training. If there is that much variation in an animal like a horse, how much more is there going to be in human children? Some kids will nearly wet their pants and burst into tears if you speak harshly to them. Others are considerably more challenging. My own five year old started to run into traffic in a Walmart parking lot yesterday. I would far rather spank her and keep her alive than to see her splashed across the grill of the oncoming pickup. She is very hard headed and spanking is the only thing that gets through to her. We tried everything else first. That said, I don't think that any parent should be allowed to injure their child. I don't think any child should live in fear of their parents. I don't think spanking should be an everyday occurance. In fact, the goal of spanking should be to get to where you never need to spank the child again as quickly as possible. And never forget, words can be used to terrify, cow and harm a child even more effectively than spanking. Words like "I wish I'd never had kids." or "I'm going to throw you out of my house and then see how you eat." or "You are fat, lazy and ugly." can harm a kid far more deeply than a swat on the tush ever will.

Yes. Related answer: http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/4065886

yes

It should be required! It is about time that parents at like parents and quit being friends with their children. It never caUSED ME ANY HARM IN FACT IT KEPT ME OUT OF DRUGS JAIL AND ALL SORTS OF MANMADE HELL ONE CAN GET INTO IF NOT DISCIPLINED PROPERLY. mR bILL

First of all u have to remember that children are always going to make mistakes. Alot of them will repeatedly make the same mistakes & as a parent it is ur job to teach them right from wrong but spanking ur child isn't necasarilly going to be any more affective than other forms of punishment, It's just alot easier & seemingly more painful to bend them over ur knee & spank them than to stick them in the corner & watch them but in reality if a child won't learn from the corner he or she most likely won't from a good ass warming either. I belive there is definatly a stern line not to cross & i think spanking a child will just teach that child that every time some 1 does something that he or she doesn't like its ok to hit them & there are plenty of other ways to dicipline a child. ie. corners, groundation, taking away priviliges etc. & if u start spanking a child but the child still wont listen what are the chances of u hitting the child to hard or losseing control & really hurting them? it doesnt take much. so in my opinion spanking a child is wrong & should not be allowed.

First of all u have to remember that children are always going to make mistakes. Alot of them will repeatedly make the same mistakes & as a parent it is ur job to teach them right from wrong but spanking ur child isn't necasarilly going to be any more affective than other forms of punishment, It's just alot easier & seemingly more painful to bend them over ur knee & spank them than to stick them in the corner & watch them but in reality if a child won't learn from the corner he or she most likely won't from a good ass warming either. I belive there is definatly a stern line not to cross & i think spanking a child will just teach that child that every time some 1 does something that he or she doesn't like its ok to hit them & there are plenty of other ways to dicipline a child. ie. corners, groundation, taking away priviliges etc. & if u start spanking a child but the child still wont listen what are the chances of u hitting the child to hard or losseing control & really hurting them? it doesnt take much. so in my opinion spanking a child is wrong & should not be allowed.

Absolutely. Until a child is able to pay taxes clothe themselves and feed themselves-you should be able to discipline. There is a difference between abuse and discipline. I think most of us here on AB can determine the difference. The system may want to prosecute but is the system equipped to deal with children that have little respect for authority? Its been demonstrated that it is not and the increase in drop out rates, crimes and teenage pregnancies prove that children need to have more guidance in the home rather than friendships from their parents.

parents should be allowed to discipline their child as they see fit even if it includes spankings. As long as the parents are not abuseive, it should be no ones business how parents raise and discipline their child.

Dang tootin'....why should MY parents have been allowed to "get away with it"--and I can't??