I was spanked growing up. A lot. Hell, I was abused pretty much until I turned 16 or so.
I wonder if that would make a difference as to if someone would spank their own children or not…because me, I don’t think I would (I have no children currently, but I do hope to someday).
I just don’t see myself giving my kids spankings. Not unless really did something that truly merited it. Threaten to spank? Maybe. Actually do it? Probably not.
Kids are pretty smart. They’ll figure out that you won’t follow through. If you’re going to threaten to punish them, make sure you threaten them with something you’ll actually do.
Nope. Definitely not part of my parenting toolbox.
I’m sure this will rapidly turn into a trainwreck, like almost all threads on child discipline, but my $0.02:
I’d spank, but not excessively, and would carry out if I said “If you do X, you’ll get a spanking”
Here is my GD thread on corporal punishment.
I never had to spank my 16 year old for any reason.
This new one though, she’s a pistol. 
I probably won’t ever spank her either though. It’s just not in my nature and it seemed to work with the older girl not to. I have better luck giving them “the eye”. My mom was a champ with that “eye” so I had a good teacher!
My parents spanked me only a handful of times when I was growing up and I can honestly say that I royally deserved it each time. They never actually hurt me. It was merely this “you really screwed up so you get a special punishment” ritual. We also had corporal punishment in school all the way through high school. I got paddled maybe 7 times through the years. I deserved those too and the paddling was fine by me because the alternative was detention or suspension. I will take the paddling every time.
I have a three year old daughter that is extremely brave and defiant. I have spanked her a few times when she was about to do something really dangerous or damaging. Just a quick swat on the behind to grab her attention because she will absolutely not respond to verbal commands if she really wants to do something. We use all of the other punishments like time-out too. I like to have as many tools as I can to fit the situation.
I don’t agree with people that are absolutely opposed to any spanking. I can’t understand the philosophy. It seems like they are drawing this arbitrary line saying the body is some kind of temple. Forced chores or drills by a sports coach also cause physical discomfort and few people object to those. I believe emotional abuse, even the mild variety, is more damaging than spanking could ever be.
Some parents use an anti-spanking stance to feel better about themselves. “I may not be a perfect parent but at least I don’t SPANK MYYYY child”. I have some of these people in my family. If a child never needs to be spanked, that is great. Some children respond to some punishments differently than others. I say be pragmatic and use whatever works for you.
My baby is now 20, but we never spanked her. Time-outs were amazingly effective when she was little, and groundings worked when she entered her more independent years.
My folks smacked us on occasion, but always with a hand, never with a wooden spoon or belt or hairbrush or whatever some of my friends’ parents used. Still, I don’t think it’s an effective disciplinary tool.
I never put my kids over my knee. I think that’s kind of creepy. I used to swat them on the rear in situations where I needed them to stop what they were doing in less time than it would take to convince them. It was never hard enough to hurt them. They never got spanked after the age of eight.
Mt mother psanked us when we were little, but not often because she would only use her hand and we all had bony little butts. I think if you’ve got issues where spanking was part of an abusive corporal punishment regime, you should definitely steer clear of it.
Shagnasty nailed my view on the whole thing.
I have spanked my kids, but it is rare, never in anger and a specific response to a clearly communicated behavior/consequence.
And I’ll be the first to agree that you should NEVER threaten something. When it comes to guiding children through their formative years, you kind of need to be like old Yoda…
Do or do not. There is no try. 
If you tell the kids that you will all pack up and leave the restaurant if there’s another peep out of little Jimmy, then you better have your car keys ready, just in case. Because if you don’t follow through, it’s all over for you.
Jammer
For us, spanking is a last resort, but not out of the question. The oldest one, now 18, was spanked a good bit as a kid. She was, and still is, pretty much dishonest, and she got more spankings for lying than anything else. The middle one, 14, I think has been spanked once when she was maybe six. The youngest one just turned six, and has been spanked once, for running away from me when I was trying to put her in time out. She hasn’t repeated that mistake.
My husband was spanked (not abusively) as a kid. I was never spanked, but my mother was a champion of emotional abuse. Needless to say, he didn’t need to work nearly as hard as I did at being emotionally healthy. Of course, all this is not to make it seem like you have to either choose to spank your kids, or emotionally abuse them. It’s just designed to give you some perspective on our upbringings.
Absolutely - bluffing is a thoroughly unsound policy.
And you’ll do better if you keep the threats of punishment few and low-key. A stern but quiet “Have you thought about what might happen if you hit Jimmy again?” is much more effective than a large amount of screaming.
Another good plan is for parents to impose sanctions before they themselves have become upset.
I may have spanked (swatted) a kid once or twice, but it is not a ‘treatment’ I use. I wouldn’t care to be handled that way and don’t think it is necessary tool to get a kid to comply, be corrected, or behave.
Never. I’m not partial to assualting people, especially if they are children.
I am apalled that what would merit arrest for battery or assualt somehow is OK if done to a child. One of the most fucked up things about our country.
I’ll admit to an occasional reflex nudge, a couple of times my hand has been faster than my brain & it did get their attention - - but a deliberate spanking? No way!
I can only speak of ages 0-2, b/c that’s what I’ve got, but I’m learning that once the power struggle has escalated to the point where a parent needs to use his/her physical advantage, the battle is already lost.
There are a lot of parenting books w/suggestions on finessing children, i.e. manipulating the situation and the child so that they choose to behave the way you want them to. Much, much less work than an all-out power struggle.
With toddlers it’s all about distractions and keeping their attention. And giving them space to behave like 2-yr-olds.
I have a girlfriend that pre children was firmly in the no spanking camp.
And with her first it was a lovely match. He responded well to time outs. He lapped up approval and could be stopped in his tracks with a look.
With her second they have discovered that different children respond to different stimulus. Her second does not respond to time outs. Does not respond to looks or “I’m really disappointed in you.” Will respond sometimes to the removal of privledges, but other times doesn’t. However, does respond to a whack on the butt. They don’t escalate to spanking for all infractions of the rules, but they do for some.
She was horrified. But you need to instill some discipline and you have to find the stimulus the child responds to. Never say never.
I side with the swat on the butt camp. I have never pulled her over my knee and administered a certain number of whacks or anything, but yes I have swatted her butt. I am proud to say I haven’t done it very often, and it’s a last resort. I prefer the “naughty mat”.
I admit, I have assaulted my child. I only use that as one form of punishment though. Involuntary incarceration is a reliable old standby. Theft of property works well other times especially when it was given as a gift. Food deprivation is effective around Halloween. Involuntary servitude (i.e. slavery) is good for discipline and it just plain gets things done fast and cheap. Kidnapping is sometimes necessary to get her away from her friends at the playground.
The number of felonies it takes to raise a child is just sad really. You are right though. I would never do those things to an adult.
My parents used it on me–maybe half a dozen times, all before the age of four–and I would use it on my child, if needed. When I got spanked, though, it was preceded and followed by a long we’re-very-disappointed-in-you talk, and afterwards I was sent to my room. It was really a symbolic punishment rather than a physical one.
I hope I don’t derail your thread. My childhood was wrecked by gratuitous, frequent punishment and assaults, with and without weapons, for which, if he had been charged, my father would still be behind bars. It’s taken me 30 years to get past it. Maybe not over it, but past it. The thing I can’t get past though, is what I would do if I was somebody’s father. I am terrified of the prospect of having my own kid and ending up hating him or her so much that I repeat what my father did to me. If I had to hit my kid and make him cry, I’d be suicidal. In answer to the OP, I wouldn’t want to hit my kid, but I can’t be absolutely certain that I never would. So I am never having one.