Unless it’s done between consenting adults, spanking is VERY rarely warranted. Before I go into more detail, allow me to provide my child-forwarding (and not “-rearing”) credentials.

I have raised seven children, 6 biological and 1 stepson. The three oldest are by my first wife Joy, and the last 3 by my second wife Angie. Angie brought along her bastard son Jacob. Lucky me (that’s sarcasm). My oldest child Teri (she will be 35 in December 2020) got the most spankings, certainly less than 10 total, mainly because I followed that lame adage, “If it was good enough for me, it’s good enough for you” (or some variation of it). But every subsequent child received fewer and fewer until, by my last child Savannah (who will be 16 in January 2021), there were zero. I had turned anti-corporal punishment by then as well.

This topic is debated on social media, so I have seen lots of arguments both ways. One of the most refined was made by a woman who commented that a good swat is warranted only when a kid’s safety is jeopardized. This is an intuitive and acceptable approach in my opinion.

The image is a rational way of looking at discipline.