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Originally Posted by BlueSky  Same here, and I deserved every one I ever had... 
But in raising my child I never spanked even once or raised my voice..
When punishment was called for, we took away privileges away...
TV, telephone use, ...and heaven forbid her gaming systems.... 
Once after she ran down the hallway to her room and slammed the door in disgust with her parents, she awoke the next morning without a door to her room. |
I have had both of these punishments used against me(more recent than some of you may be thinking) and I believe they are not very helpful. First of all taking away what the child enjoys seems like a bad idea, not only can the child resort to some other form of entertainment but it's bad for the overall relationship. Why should s/he talk to you about what they enjoy when they think you're just gathering information on what type of punishment you should use. Not to mention it's demoralizing and they probably think you're not taking their problem seriously.
As for the door, slamming a door does nothing, in fact it's better. It releases anger in a better way than most, and makes them think they had the upper hand thus ending any power struggle. Taking away the door is merely an invasion of privacy. The child will either behave until what they want is back thus causing a never-ending cycle, or they will attempt to take it by force. While I feel the only way you can ever change someone is to lead by example, Spanking does seem to be slightly helpful in extreme cases. Spanking will send a message to the child that you are serious especially when it's such a controversial issue; "zomg my parents just risked going to jail to punish me." Spanking may cause "psychological damage" and that's exactly what they need: a change in mindset. Also, physical punishment has worked for thousands of years, why fix it if it ain't broken? especially in light of such recent events at certain schools...