Do you need a spanking?

You may be “justified to use non-deadly force against a child under 18 when and to degree the actor reasonably believes necessary to discipline, or safeguard or promote child's welfare.” This was found searching for spanking laws in the USA. However, that law only applies to parents in Texas. I failed to find one set law for spanking within learning institutions for all the states that still permit spanking. That is probably due to the fact that there are more and more stipulations put on schools’ spanking policies everyday to please an increasing number of lenient, force-free parents. Everything, nowadays, is giving children options, letting them do as they please, and leave misbehavior to parents that still may only give the option of “no laptop, or no phone?” as punishment. I believe there is nothing wrong with discipline in any form if it doesn’t threaten to hospitalize the wrongdoer. Still, there are many different opinions and ongoing debates on the concept of corporal punishment in schools.

Only a week ago, on March 26, there was a protest in New Orleans against an archbishop who “had called on school officials to abandon the 60-year practice” at St. Augustine High School. The protestors were supporters of corporal punishment in schools, similar to me. Yet, their reasoning for it is out of “respect for the school’s history and traditions.” My reasoning for it is when a child has seemingly lost their mind and has overly disrespected the teacher, a classmate, or the school, a simple sit down in a quiet classroom after-hours or a call home to Mrs. Lenient does not serve as a proper way of discipline. (And since when was it wrong to discipline a child as seen fit, instead of as much as they are willing to accept and comply with?) Besides that, most people see spanking as outward swatting with a belt until you think they’ve learned a lesson. It is usually only 1 or 2 smacks with a paddle and most of the time the punisher is supervised to make sure they don’t step outside of those bounds.

My support for spanking comes from my own experience in the childcare field. I witnessed a 7 year old spit in a teacher’s face because he had to “take a break” (nicer way of saying “timeout”). The teacher’s reaction was, “why did you spit in my face? That’s not nice. Now go take a break while I call your parents.” Fail. That child is likely to do that once more if their only punishment was a few, not-that-harsh words. What will kids become if they’re only given easy punishments because someone is always ready to sue because their child didn’t agree with the punishment served? It doesn’t necessarily have to be spankings that are used as a harsher reprimand, but reverting back to the days before me is the only solution that comes to mind.