Parents Who Spank Being Made Criminals

Although she backed out MCDirector gave a clear reason for it. Children need to be addressed at the moment it happens. not later. They will take advantage of that for sure. If you don't want to do that great! But there is no need to accuse others of being abusive. It is just not necesary.

 

I think we need to consider what public is. MK mentioned pulling her boy into the bathroom -- still public but taking care of the situation at hand.

Young children need to be corrected immediately. Waiting is ineffective and would leave the poor thing wondering what he/she had done wrong when the discipline was actually done.

 

mcdirector backed back in while you were typing Rev Mitchell

 

hehe

doncha hate it when you get quoted before you get it off the board.

TJ does that to me all the time.

 

Yeah, I edited the question. I agree with taking care of the offense, immediately, but I considered "public" in the middle of the street or store, not in the restroom away from prying eyes.

By the way, I did this once with my youngest and a woman actually FOLLOWED me to the restroom and was knocking on the stall door while I was trying to correct my child. It really upset me, because it was none of her business and I wasn't abusing my daughter, just trying to deal with her in private.

 

But the problem is going to be the definition of public and private.

 

The only private discipline we find in the Word of God is in Church discipline.

 

You're right. To some of these folks, (I mean liberal anti-spanking policy makers) your privacy-fenced back yard might be considered "public."

 

How did you get that from my answer

The rod IS MEANT FOR PRIVATE. It is between a parent and child IN PRIVATE. It is not a show of authority for the public to witness. One can address the behavior without public use of the rod. A "we'll deal with this when we get home" will do wonders, or other means of discipline. The rod is not meant for ALL discipline.

 

To me, public is where someone besides the parent and child can witness the punishment / correction. Depending, a public bathroom can either be private or public.

 

To see a part of the root problem in this thread, read the thread "Liberalism 101".

While it does not speak to this particular problem ( as perceived by so many) it does speak to the lack of logic behind much of the knee-jerk reaction!

 

Scripture for that?

 

Matthew 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

Notice it says 'thy brother'? That is within the body, the Church. It is private.

 

Good heavens! What did she think she could accomplish? (Something I would have asked her point blank and then told to her to mind her own business)

Yes, in my first example, "Jonny" was about 3 or 4 and had been exposed to some bad influences at a preschool we soon thereafter quit attending. There were a couple of kids there I wouldn't have taken out in public if they'd been mine! Totally undisciplined little boys, one of whom belonged to the director. Church preschool, at that.

Second example, dealing with the problem at home hadn't worked. "Jenny" was 6 (first grade) I had been very, very patient. Checked more than once to be certain she was getting her lunches and snacks. We did the whole sending to the room thing every afternoon. Nada. No TV for the afternoon. Nada. Even followed through with a promised spanking a time or two. That would fix things for a day or two and then she'd be back at it. Whatever it was, it was a Jenny problem and it wasn't getting better. I don't like to spank at the start with and the prospect of handing one out every afternoon just wasn't going to cut it. I don't know what gave me the inspiration for dealing with it right at that moment but that was the end of a problem that had been going on literally since school had begun.

Yes, it meant a spanking in public, but better that than a child who believes a parent is powerless outside the house. It was also better than listening to constant wailing every afternoon for 20 minutes while we picked up the other two kids.

 

Some perfectly wonderful Christian families are blessed with some perfectly wonderful little angelic children who never ever give their parents a minute of trouble.

Some perfectly wonderful Christian families are blessed with some terribly rebellious children who will challenge their every word, move, desire from the moment they pop out of the womb. I'm not saying they have to be spanked every moment of every day to beat them into submission, but I am saying that circumstances arise and it is not the state's place to remove the circumstance and the discipline of the circumstance from the parent.

 

Can I have an amen!?

Oh yes, sister, amen

 

...so you are reading into the texts dealing with the rod that they must then be for public use? That's eisegesis.

The entire point of using the rod is to get to the heart of a child...not to curb behavior. If spanking is done to get a certain response from a child in regards to behavior, it is not being applied correctly. It should always be done in love, and I don't see how doing this in public can accomplish that. It is meant for private use, to bring the child back under the protection that God promised if they obey their parents.

 

Standing Firm, your scriptures seem to apply to adult children as opposed to young ones.

Public=anywhere someone outside your immediate family can see how you are "abusing" your poor innocent child

Private=anywhere no one outside your immediate family can see how you are disciplining your child.

Webdog, you gonna tell me how you would have dealt with my two examples.

By the way, a spanking in my house rarely means more than 3 or 4 swats of my hand, a belt or a switch. My personal favorite when they were younger was the switch. Don't know what it was about a switch, but they hated the very touch of it. Didn't even have to sting. Just touching their skin was enough. It's never been about the pain of spanking here. They simply know that they have completely displeased me if I decide they need a spanking. Life doesn't get much worse.

 

You know, MC, I was one of those perfect children, but I didn't have any perfect ones of my own.

Life's not fair!

:laugh:

 

I believe you were dealing with behavior and not the child's heart. This comment leads me to believe that...
They simply know that they have completely displeased me if I decide they need a spanking.

Did you explain to the child why you were spanking him in public, or why you spank at all? If the child feels shamed in public, that can undo all of the training and nurturing up to that point.