I hated being spanked. A lot. But I was a kid and these days I don’t remember being spanked much more than I remember watching Sesame Street every day, so it didn’t scar me for life or anything…and I can think of MANY kids I see that could seriously use some spanking, heh…I’m not all for it though, and I’d avoid using it. And then there’s always the thought, “Hmmm…I know if I light the cat on fire I’ll get a spanking…but I REALLY want to see that cat dance…and I’ve been spanked before, so I know it’s not going to KILL me…” and sometimes the “fun factor” outweighs the pain of punishment, heh…especially as a kid.
I’ve thought about it before and if I ever have a kid (which would be a long long time from now, for it generally requires a girlfriend first) I would try to raise the kid with a lot of respect for others, and a large mutual respect with me. Like to the point where if they do something wrong, I don’t have to slap them around or send them off to their room without supper, but I can tell them that they’ve disappointed me and that would be enough to make them think about it (and of course we’d talk about it and such…I think kids should be treated with respect and not “talked down to”, because that just irritated the hell out of me when I was young…kids aren’t stupid, they just haven’t learned as much and won’t if no one cares about what they say).
Like the scene in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (heh…I should probably go rent more than martial arts flicks so I’d have better examples) where, even as a teenager Bruce is goofing around when his dad wants a serious talk, and his dad just gives him “the glare” and says “SIT.” in a super-serious tone and because of the respect thing, Bruce knows “Okay, he’s serious, I should be listening now”…like using the serious tone only when it’s something major so that it’s not like “oh dad’s mad again…” but “he’s NEVER like this…I’m in trouble now…” I think it’s way more important to have a relationship where it’s like when you’re serious, the kid KNOWS they should be paying attention and listens not because they’re afraid you’ll beat them or sit them in a corner, but because they know you have something to say…and it should go the other way around too (ala listen to your kids).
Anyway, I haven’t had a kid (nor have I had a younger sibling to take care of) so I’m sure my thoughts are way out there and realistically a kid will always be a pain in the ass at some point and decide not to listen to you, in which case I have no idea what I’d do…I guess I’d just try and, from an early age, teach them to respect other people and show them respect (which growing up I found it rare for adults to do)…It’s easy to say “just give them a spanking” but I wouldn’t want to do it to my own kid, even if it was “for their own good”. And if they do end up acting up uncontrollably, I’d have to wing it.
Heh…I’d probably make a horrible parent and my kids would run rampant and walk all over me…agh.
And if you spank your kids, make sure you explain yourself afterward and they KNOW you don’t just take pleasure in beating them…the worst thing in the world is thinking even your own parents don’t care.
- Tsugumo (the Threadinator (I seem to kill almost every thread I post in, heh…))