To spank or not to spank a child, that is the question. Do we really need to spank them when they sin? There have been divided views about this issue. Some believe spanking is necessary in child discipline while other believe it is not necessary at all. Which then is right?
If there is any child who is born without any bone of naughtiness in him then he is indeed exceptional. There is no need to spank him for he deserves it not. But the truth however is that foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. Some children are easy to be disciplined though. They can be trained and corrected by mere words of warning and teaching but there are some hard-headed children that won’t to just words. These are stubborn children who keep repeating their wrong deeds despite being warned a number of times. So if we see that our child is stubborn and will not listen to mere words of warning then that’s time we should use the rod of correction.
Spanking the child should be properly employed though. It should not be done out of anger but out of your concern to correct his bad attitude. You should never slap, box, pinch our pull the hair of an erring child. If he committed grave mistake, use a rod. Never, ever use your hands to punish a child because that could aggravate his stubbornness and might lead him into hatred. Also, don’t just beat the child with a rod anywhere in his body. Beat him on safe parts of his body. It is advisable to let him lie with his face down before you spank him on his butt or on his thigh or in his palms if necessary. The parent must explain to the erring child why the thing he committed is wrong and he must be advised not to repeat the same. Spanking the child will teach him that his wrongdoings have consequences and you as a parent will not tolerate such. He must be properly told that he is being spanked because you love him and you don’t want him to grow into a bad child.
So going back to the question, should we spank the child or not? The answer is yes. If the child deserves spanking then we should spank him but spanking must be done properly. Now if your child can be disciplined easily even without spanking then good for him for certainly he does not need a rod at all.
