Corporal Punishment for Children

I was visiting a Western Alliance blog, and a poster raised the question of Corporal Punishment? Use it or not use it with children?

I'll tell you what Mr & Mrs Sleep agreed to.

1) With children still in diapers we would spank, or let me say provide one sharp swat. It was enough to get their attention, yet not hard enough to actually hurt them. If they were demonstrating some type of behavior that was unacceptable, like screaming, we would pick them up and carry them to their room, and close the door, and walk away.

2) When the kids got to 3 or so, we no longer would spank, but use words to discipline. We always demanded that they maintain eye contact with us. If particularly piqued, I would point at them and sometimes poke at their chest lightly to reinforce my points. They hated that, and it was something I had to break away from.

3) When the kids got to be 7 or 8 or so, we got tired or repeating ourselves, and/or yelling at the kids. We evolved into being very clear about our expectations/guidelines/parameters. We clearly articulated consequences to misbehavior, and one of those consequences was doing pushups. This proved quite effective. If they were out of line, and they knew it, we would say, drop and give me 10! If they didn't do that immediately then a more severe consequence followed up, ie, loss of some priviledge for some period of time. Once we were out Christmas shopping, and before I finished parking the car, I told all the kids, "do not run to the store, be very careful as too many drivers are in a hurry during the Christmas season, and parking lots can be very dangerous at this time of year." Well one of our kids was not paying attention, and as soon as the car was stopped he bolted out of the car. I opened my car door and yelled "STOP". He did so. I walked up to him, and said "didn't I just say to be careful?". He nodded yes. I said right then and there "drop and give me 10". He did so, right in the middle of the parking lot. I waited until he was done, then we walked safely into the store as a family.

There is one follow up to this story. Later that same Christmas, all the elder siblings and their children were at my Parents house on Christmas Evening. My #2 son Bryan, had fallen asleep by the Fireplace. My wife tapped Bryan on the shoulder, and told him to go to bed. He got up groggy, and headed upstairs, not before my Brother (his Uncle) said "hey Bryan give me 5".
My Brother had his hand up for a high 5. Instead, Bryan dropped to the floor, and pumped out 5 pushups. All the adults in the room broke out laughing. My Brother patted Bryan on the back as he stumbled off to bed, totally confused about what had just transpired.