# Using hot sauce to discipline children?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260 "2004-08-10T21:10:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/21 "2004-08-10T21:45:09Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > What do you do when the hot sauce fails? Maybe spray 'em with pepper spray or mace??? Make 'em eat raw jalepenos? Beat 'em up? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/22 "2004-08-10T21:46:26Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > What do you do when the hot sauce fails? Phosphoric acid 😛 Sam ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/23 "2004-08-10T21:55:46Z")
nnbc (that’s a post from my cat, who decided to walk across the keyboard just now) What I was going to say was… It’s too bad crating children isn’t as socially acceptable as crating dogs. Because it works on the dogs like a charm. You guys sure you can’t just put the kids in a cage in the middle of the living room with a bowl of water and a chewy toy? Because the hot sauce did not stop my dog from eating poop out in the yard. Didn’t even slow him down. I can’t imagine why that would do anything to children but traumatize them. ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/24 "2004-08-10T21:57:37Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > What do you do when the hot sauce fails? Take the little fucker out and shoot him. Unless it’s a girl. In that case, shoot _her_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/25 "2004-08-10T22:01:55Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > I love hot sauce now, but as a kid I could barely handle medium salsas. Their tongues and membranes are just way more sensitive at a young age. I have NEVER heard of such a “discipline” technique and can’t imagine the type of parent who would consider something like that, much less on a regular basis. Capsaicin has been an ingredient in commercial anti-nailbiting solutions for decades. Not much of a leap from there to putting hot sauce directly onto a little one’s tongue. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/26 "2004-08-10T22:02:55Z")
> [@GLWasteful](#): > > Take the little fucker out and shoot him. > > Unless it’s a girl. In that case, shoot _her_. Jeez, Judge Crater, you wouldn’t pistol whip 'em first? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/27 "2004-08-10T22:03:08Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > Capsaicin has been an ingredient in commercial anti-nailbiting solutions for decades. As well as a folk “remedy” for thumbsucking. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/28 "2004-08-10T22:07:21Z")
> [@](#): > > **nyctea scandiaca** said: > Did you miss this part of the article? Yup, I saw it. I just think that it over dramatizes the risk involved in a very small amount of hot sauce. It’s not as if they’re being made to chug a whole bottle of Tobasco, nor given a whole habanero to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/29 "2004-08-10T22:14:20Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Yup, I saw it. I just think that it over dramatizes the risk involved in a very small amount of hot sauce. > > It’s not as if they’re being made to chug a whole bottle of Tobasco, nor given a whole habanero to eat. Well if you are so unfortunate to have such a bad kid that you have to put hot sauce in his mouth, then that is your perogative as a parent. However, I am inlclined to believe the pediatricians, psychologists and experts on child care and family life who strongly recommend against the practice. As well as it’s just plain mean. I don’t think hot sauce should ever be a last resort. There are always better alternatives. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/30 "2004-08-10T23:14:28Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > :eek: > > I love hot sauce now, but as a kid I could barely handle medium salsas. Their tongues and membranes are just way more sensitive at a young age. I have NEVER heard of such a “discipline” technique and can’t imagine the type of parent who would consider something like that, much less on a regular basis. I’ve witnessed it firsthand. One of our babysitters had two kids herself, if the girl mouthed off at her she’d get the tabasco sauce and dump it in her mouth. She did give either a glass of milk or a slice of bread and butter after a short time though. But I never saw that it made much of a difference. The girl would mouth off at her mother fairly often. She never did it to us though (both because neither of us swore and Mom wouldn’t have stood for it.) ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/31 "2004-08-10T23:21:46Z")
It kinda depends on the hot sauce used. Blair’s death sauce is wrong, But something fairly mild like Tabasco seems like the parents perogative. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/32 "2004-08-10T23:37:20Z")
> [@](#): > > **nyctea scandiaca** said: > Well if you are so unfortunate to have such a bad kid that you have to put hot sauce in his mouth, then that is your perogative as a parent. I don’t have any kids. Note that the anecdote was regarding what methods my best friend’s mother considered punishment for his swearing when he was a child. > [@](#): > > However, I am inlclined to believe the pediatricians, psychologists and experts on child care and family life who strongly recommend against the practice. I don’t think that a couple of psychiatrists and pediatricians are the entirety of what is absolutely good and bad as far as raising kids go. Experts also often disagree with each other, and are still susceptible to a good old fashioned over-reaction. > [@](#): > > **wolfman** said: > It kinda depends on the hot sauce used. Blair’s death sauce is wrong, But something fairly mild like Tabasco seems like the parents perogative. This seems reasonable. So does distinguishing the _amount_ of Tobasco used. A couple of drops does not seem shocking or unreasonable. Half a bottle seems pretty nasty, and would be just as nasty to me if it was a grown person drinking half a bottle of Tobasco. What about a single shake of pepper out of the regular old ground black pepper table shaker? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/33 "2004-08-10T23:47:24Z")
This might sound like a great idea but just wait until the kid is in their teens and skipping school to try habanero peppers. Imagine horror of having your kid drop out of college because he is too busy stealing money to support his two bottle a day [habit](http://www.firebreath.com/s.nl/c.ACCT89406/sc.2/category.9/it.A/id.119/.f) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/34 "2004-08-10T23:53:11Z")
One particular problem (of many) with this approach is that the effects can last for _hours_. And can lead to gastric upset along with burning hot diarrhea the next day. Even with a few drops in the mouth. Young kids are very, very sensitive to capsaicin. They’ll often instinctively rub their mouths, then their eyes and nose water from the effects of the dose in the mouth, so they rub them too. Then their eyes, nose, and mouths are on fire. Most rational advocates of physical punishment for children (generally for behavior which is extreme, refractory to other modalities of modification, and actually dangerous) recommend a very swift action which gets the child’s attention but is then **over**. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/35 "2004-08-11T00:01:08Z")
Sorry, having seen this method in action, I really don’t see the big deal about possible drooling and eye watering. It seems like an over-reaction on the part of those who are so vehemently opposed to it, and I don’t really think it amounts to abuse, so unless you’re arguing that it is and that the authorities should be notified about it, it’s a matter of personal choice. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/36 "2004-08-11T00:42:42Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Sorry, having seen this method in action, I really don’t see the big deal about possible drooling and eye watering. Have you ever gotten hot sauce or juice from a pepper in your eye? It can be extremely painful, even in small amounts. I’m glad this didn’t end up causing any serious hurt to the kid you saw, but so far I can’t see how this is in any way superior to whackin’ 'em. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/37 "2004-08-11T01:01:30Z")
I certainly wouldn’t approve. The burning pain can last a lot longer than the pain from an ordinary spank, so I would consider it a _harsher_ punishment. Seeing how sensitive to spicy flavors my 4-yo is, I wouldn’t dream of giving her something like hot sauce. —One method for working on a biting child is to give them something safe to bite to help them control the urge–biting is often a response to frustration. So if the child carries, say, a washcloth, he can learn to bite on it to ease the frustration and control himself, until he can learn to stop biting entirely. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/38 "2004-08-11T01:12:57Z")
To me, it seems worse than getting your mouth washed out with soap. I was a rather smart-mouthed child and remember many mouth washings. The soap tasted terrible, but it never \*hurt. \* Likewise, I was spanked on occassion and hot sauce seems worse than that. The pain from a spanking is over just about instantly (at least with the spankings I got which were very infrequent and not all that hard). Not like the burning from hot sauce which just lingers. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/39 "2004-08-11T01:26:36Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > As well as a folk “remedy” for thumbsucking. Yeah, one of the “Peanuts” characters mentions it in one of the old strips. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260/40 "2004-08-11T01:27:12Z")
> [@](#): > > **elfbabe** said: > Have you ever gotten hot sauce or juice from a pepper in your eye? Pepper spray. It certainly sucked for a little while, but there was absolutely no lasting damage and a good flush with water fixed it. > [@](#): > > MaddyStrut\*\* said: > The soap tasted terrible, but it never hurt. Gave me the terrible shits. > [@](#): > > Not like the burning from hot sauce which just lingers. A small drop of Tobasco doesn’t ‘linger’ all that long. Few minutes maybe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-hot-sauce-to-discipline-children/259260.md?page=3)