# Were you subject to spankings/beatings as a child? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 13, 2014, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378 "2014-09-13T11:35:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/101 "2014-09-16T10:54:16Z")
I think I was spanked once, by an aunt, after I threw some cousin down the porch stairs (there were 4 steps and grass at the bottom, I should add, he was just a crybaby) but I must have been 5 or 6, too young to remember. It would have just been a couple swats with the bare hand, if similar punishments in my family were anything to go by. My own parents were not spankers with me, although they certainly spanked my older siblings when they were younger - there are 7 of us, and a 7-year gap between me and the next-youngest. I think they realized it didn’t change anything. Plus I was generally a studious, well-behaved angel as a kid. I was caned in school, until corporal punishment was abolished in my school system around '86. Only ever as collective punishment for the whole class being unruly or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/102 "2014-09-16T11:27:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > (there were 4 steps and grass at the bottom, I should add, he was just a crybaby) …but it’s cute when _I_ do it! ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/103 "2014-09-16T12:46:48Z")
Mom was a small woman, so she reached for the belt or a switch when she got frustrated training two boys. I got a lot of licks over the years, standing up, laying on the bed, dancing around the room while mom cracked the belt on thin air. Never did any damage but it was painful and embarrassing. I was an extremely mild mannered kid. Never, ever got in trouble at school or caused trouble. All my punishment was for general laziness, like not cleaning my room properly, or bad grades. Dad as always the threat that never happened. His huge hands could have killed us in one swat but fortunately he never had the heart to actually hit us. His anger was scary enough. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/104 "2014-09-16T16:30:03Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > …but it’s cute when _I_ do it! Well, yes, it is. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/105 "2014-09-17T12:38:22Z")
> [@raspberry\_hunter](#): > > I don’t spank my child, because a) I think that if I did, given my parental history, it would be because I was angry and not because I made a rational decision that it would be a good discipline method, and that doesn’t sit well with me, and b) my kid isn’t the sort who would benefit from it anyway – she does a lot better with explanations and consequences. I could totally imagine that with a different sort of kid, rare spanking to snap them out of the behavior, like **RivkahChayah** describes, might be effective. This! Luckily my own child has been able to understand verbal commands (or, like dogs, she follows the tone of voice) since very early. After that I have lost it a few times, but my reaction has been more like wanting to bang my head on the walls – they’re concrete, it would be a bad idea – rather than hurt her. I understand now how frustrated/overworked my mom was. Unfortunately we had to pay for it in ways we did not deserve. Her own mom would have landed in prison if she had done now to her kids what she did back in the 40s/50s, some of the punishment would have landed her a job with the Spanish Inquisition. I am glad that my mom never went there, so I guess in her own way she saw it as an improvement – which it was! ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/106 "2014-09-17T13:25:32Z")
Born in '62. I was spanked with a belt by my mother when I deserved it. I was paddled in school with a wooden paddle when I deserved it. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/107 "2014-09-17T15:15:44Z")
I was born in 1961, and I did get my butt whipped with a belt from time to time. My father wasn’t a sadist- he loved his kids, he never us without cause, and never inflicted any serious injuries. But I’ve never hit my son, and could never even imagine using my belt on him. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/108 "2014-09-17T20:44:08Z")
Born in 43 If I had not had some form of corporal punishment at certain times I would not be alive. Some, well many wish that I had not survived so I guess my parents keeping me alive was a mistake. Seems you all do also because I spanked my children time to time. I guess they are broken now and are mistreating their children physically or mentally. \*waiting for SWAT to break down the door so DHS can get in… \* ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/109 "2014-09-18T14:40:40Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Mom was a small woman, so she reached for the belt or a switch when she got frustrated training two boys. I got a lot of licks over the years, standing up, laying on the bed, dancing around the room while mom cracked the belt on thin air. Never did any damage but it was painful and embarrassing. I was an extremely mild mannered kid. Never, ever got in trouble at school or caused trouble. All my punishment was for general laziness, like not cleaning my room properly, or bad grades. > > Dad as always the threat that never happened. His huge hands could have killed us in one swat but fortunately he never had the heart to actually hit us. His anger was scary enough. My Dad was very strong–he once broke a horseshoe in two with his bare hands. And he never hesitated to use his belt on my brother or me. But he never used his bare hands. Mom rarely got physical. Her crying was enough. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378/110 "2014-09-20T04:36:32Z")
My mom spanked me a few times when I was little. My grandfather though, he backhanded me, pulled me by my ear, and once slapped me from the car to the house because he said I slammed the door too hard. He kicked me a few times too. I did NOT deserve this. Honestly I don’t think any child deserves to be hit. Punished, yes. But not by hitting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-you-subject-to-spankings-beatings-as-a-child/698378.md?page=5)