Legislative universal bans of physical punishment have been implemented in 65 countries across the world. America’s attitude toward spanking in the school is very different than spanking in the home. 55% of Americans believe a child does need a good spanking sometimes. According to experts the 80%-90% of Americans are a dysfunctional home. According to Whitfield M.D. about 90% of families are dysfunctional, dysfunctional families have a high prevalence of PTSD. PTSD is likely to cause children to have bad grades. Children are likely to be spanked in American homes for poor academic performance. This points to a circular problem. Spanking has shown to alter the brain in ways similar to severe maltreatment. My solution was getting rid of spanking and adopt a method that Europe is already doing. The law holds parents as authority on education, health, and daily routines but the law treats the child as an individual citizen with the same basic rights as an adult. The child has a right to a non-violent upbringing; even psychological injuries are not allowed. I posted something similar on Reddit and I am pretty sure someone was threatening death to anyone who thinks we should get rid of parental autonomy. Do people really feel that strongly about parental autonomy? This article shows America is in the majority favor of spanking just not in schools. I am not sure why. Do we not trust the teachers to administer spankings correctly?
Gonna be kinda hard to implement bans when the bible says to beat the crap out of your kids to save their souls from Sheol. Proverbs 13:24, 20:30, 23:13-14, (and more!).
I remember being in school and things like paddling (corporal punishment) were opt-out, not opt-in. I don’t know any parents that opted their kids out. I was paddled a lot in elementary school and into junior high and spent most days indoors for detention (writing).
I think by the time I reached high school, it mostly was not used, but still on the books. I don’t remember anyone getting paddled in high school.
Even back then, I thought the culture of spankings (and worse) rather strange. My parents didn’t really believe in spanking, but that was rather unusual.
Some of the parents of my friends, though? Sometimes threatened to involve me in the beatings of their children. Never happened, but seemed to be a plausible threat at the time.
Man that is tough. I am so glad I wasn’t in school when corporal punishment was allowed. I looked it up and it was still allowed but I never witnessed it and then it was gone and I was very young. I do remember parents loving the fact that they came off scary to us children. It was one of those unsettling memories that made me wonder why.
The bible says love thy neighbor as thyself. I believe he is including children here. Psalms 103:13 “like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth him that fear him.” I believe the Bible does tell parents to show children mercy and love.