In working to support both parents and teachers in using sound principles of child development in the home and classroom, I hear a lot of concerns.
“That’s How I Was Raised” and Other Reasons We Spank Our Kids
In my last post, I wrote about the slippery slope between spanking and child abuse, the slippery slope which appears to have pulled Adrian Peterson and much of the public discussion about spanking over the edge of the precipice. Today, I want to address the reasons we use to rationalize spanking, and talk a little about setting broken tools aside. [Read more…]
Now that We’re Talking About “Spanking”…
There’s been a lot written about spanking recently, brought about by current events and prominent figures. I’ve been sitting back without writing anything about it, just observing and trying to process the kind of discussion it was bringing to the surface. It seems that as a society, we’re ready to have a conversation about spanking.
Hot Topic: Spanking and Human Capacity to Change
My views on spanking are no secret. (You can find links under the “More Heat” heading to read more about that.) And I’m certainly a fan of nerdy stats and research findings. So it might come as a surprise to some that the post, “5 Reasons You Aren’t ‘Fine’ if You Were Spanked as a Child” from the Stir really got under my skin.
Spanking…..The Post I Finally Had to Write
I read once that you have to be willing to write something now and then that makes you nervous, otherwise you aren’t writing anything really interesting.
No Spanking in Sweden
Spare the Rod: What Spanking Teaches Children
I heard a comedian the other day, who really made a good point. He said essentially this: “My friends are always questioning my choice not to spank my kids. They’ll often say, “Never? You’ll never spank you kids? There’s no situation where you think you might need to spank your kids?” When I say I’ll never hit my wife, nobody says, “Never? You’ll never hit your wife? There’s no situation where you think you might need to hit your wife?” This logic got a good laugh from the crowd, and I think it was spot-on.