To Spank or Not to Spank?

I was watching the Tyra Show earlier and the big heated discussion had to do with spanking vs. not spanking. After watching this I had very mixed emotions so decided to do a little more research. I viewed two different blogs: one that supported the action of spanking and the other opposing it.

The first blog supported spanking. This blog argues that children who are spanked up to the age of six actually grow up to be happier, more sociable, and even more successful than children who were not spanked at all. I think the most important, and most convincing, argument that was made stated that if a child does something wrong then they should be spanked, but this act must be done out of love, not anger.

The second blog argues that spanking can have many long-term effects including lower IQ scores, and also often leads to physical and emotional abuse that affects the individual for the rest of his or her life. The author of this blog asks the readers to consider the idea of "praise not punishment" which encourages offering praise and rewards when good behavior occurs and ignore and extinguish undesirable behavior.

I think both of these blogs are very convincing. They both offer wonderful perspectives. I came into this research supporting spanking because I, as well as my 4 brothers and my sister, was spanked as a child and thought this was just the way of life. However, after reading the opposing view blog, my attitude has changed. I think the "praise not punishment" idea could be very effective.