Do People Still Hit their Kids?

Tony, one more thing. It doesn't help advance the conversation if you make people who spank their kids out to be child abusers. I thought this kind of extremism and demonization was a thing you avoided. Of course, if you really do think parents who spank are child abusers then the conversation is simply DOA - either way, it's tough to take you seriously on this issue.

Brad

Doug Wilson wisely writes:

People who do not know how to look beyond surface appearances will say that when you spank a child you are teaching them violence. They say spanking a child is hitting a child, and they are impatient with those who seek to make fundamental distinctions. Lovemaking is not rape, even though the same biological act is involved in both. Executing Ted Bundy is not imitating Ted Bundy, even though someone loses his life in both instances. The difference between child abuse and child discipline is as vast as the difference between unrighteousness and righteousness.

Godly discipline, spanking included, is an act of love. Children who are disciplined appropriately know that they are being loved, and they know that the world is a secure place. Boundaries exist, and those boundaries are defended by parents who love the boundaries, just as they love their children. Children who are not corrected and spanked when they need it know that their parents are actually exhibiting a hatred of them (Prov. 13:24). This is what Scripture teaches, and so we may safely assert it. But having done so, we are also invited to taste the godly fruit of obedience in this. The Scriptures are not true in a vacuum; they speak the truth to us, about us, and concerning us. Whenever we obey, trusting God for the blessing, the results are what the Bible promises to glad obedience.

http://www.credenda.org/issues/16-2childer.php

I had no idea until after becoming a parent that people still hit their kids. Since making friends with other parents I have realized the awful truth. The majority of people still hit their children. Hitting and spanking helpless children does not work. All it does is cause psychological damage and physical damage. They don't respect you because you hit them they are scared of you. In the long run they will be more violent and more likely to misbehave if you hit them. It is an ignorant and cruel way to raise a child. Some people use religion as an excuse to batter their helpless children. But would Jesus hit an innocent child? Besides, there are much more effective ways of raising an obedient child. My child has never been hit and my friends are jealous of how well she behaves. This is because her self-esteem and confidence has not been battered by abusing hands.