Were you spanked as a child?

[YellowRubberDuckie]

There has been a lot of talk about this today, and I thought we'd see how many of you were spanked as children. I'm not saying abused...
Were you traumatized for the rest of your life because of it?
Duckie

[Misunderestimator]

1. Yes, and more.... a STUPID thing to do.

[TNDemo]

2. I even got to take that death walk out to the hedge to pick out

the weapon. I picked the littlest, skinniest switch I could find and only did that once. I tried to find the big sticks after that.

[HEyHEY]

41. Terrible walk that

shivers

[kitkatrose]

3. Yes, not often though.

It was more of a last resort thing, and I think I turned out pretty good.

[bigwillq]

7. That would be my response about my childhood

From time to time I would get a spank on the hand or on the butt, never on the face.

I think I also turned out alright.

[Cornus]

4. Never spanked

[Teddy_Salad]

5. Yes and violently so

Have I been traumatized from it?
No but I certainly never had a great relationship with my dad because of it and I think that's sad. :(

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. I'm sorry...

There were a couple of times my dad got drunk and spanked me just for the hell of it, not that I deserved it or anything. I went off on him one time before he died and then he quit drinking. I miss him every day. I'm so sorry you and your dad never had a great relationship.
Duckie

[YellowRubberDuckie]

10. Hit the damned button twice. Sorry.

[nini]

6. Yes, but only twice

we knew my mom meant big time business if it came to that - and it wasn't a beating but the old butt spaking a couple of times.

I am not traumatized from it and know she had to make a statement I wouldn't forget when she did do it.

[bloom]

8. I could say yes

but it was so lame - I don't think it even counts as spanking.


And there was some crazy negotiation involved like I could forego the spanking and give up the ice cream bar or be spanked and get an ice cream bar - so I took the spanking and the ice cream bar.

I'm not sure what I even did - it might have been the time I decorated the walls without getting permission.

Wouldn't you know - I would end up an artist and paint all over the walls to my hearts content. :)

[ikojo]

11. I don't recall being spanked often...I was one of those

kids where all my mom had to do was look at me a certain way and I KNEW she was not happy.

Whenever my mom got upset and thought she was going to lose it, she would slam cabinet doors and then pick up her purse and leave the house. She would then drive around and when she returned (which seemed like forever to a kid but she says it was usually just long enough for her to drive around the block) she was usually not upset or at least not as upset as she was before she left.

I think more parents should exercise the right to remove themselves from the room for a few minutes before taking their anger out on their kids. MOST of the time the kids are being disciplined only because the parents had a bad day at work or are upset for some other reason and the parent cannot take their anger out on the person with whom they are truly upset.

[Hoping4Change]

12. Severely traumatized. My Dad just didn't just spank he flew into

unbelievable rages. His rage is so terrifying that men he worked with on the railroad told my Mom they were terrified of him when he was angry and they were big strapping men.

The problem with spanking is that parents often resort to it as a way to vent and they don't even realize how out of control they get.

If parents spank they should never do it while caught up in their emotions.

[flamingyouth]

13. Yes - with my dad's belt

Buckle side:scared:

[cprise]

21. excellent sig line

I believe there are some -isms that are due for a comeback, humanism and feminism among them.

[Misunderestimator]

34. Same here... the natural escalation of violence...

:hug:

[maveric]

14. Oh Yeah. With belts and extension cords.

My dad would not spare the rod. And he was a Boston liberal democrat too.
A very complex man he was.

[cprise]

15. Not spanked so much as beat senseless

And it seemed to be for no reason at all.

I was never properly "spanked" for some transgression that I was well aware of. It was very violent and there seemend to be no cause/effect.

[Gothic Sponge]

16. Not often, but i was spanked. .

Spanking a child just teaches them when you get angry violence is justified. If Mommy and Daddy did it, it must be okay.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

17. Beaten

whipped, broken arm, black eyes, cut up arms, burned hands, locked in closets and laundry room for days. Does that count?

[MuseRider]

19. Are you my missing brother? n/t

[MuseRider]

18. Actually more like

damn near killed every few days or so. Usually for no particular reason except my father always said a day without beating one of the kids is like a day without sunshine. Lovely man. Was I traumatized? For a while there was a whole bunch of awful baggage from all of that but at some point you gotta give it up, take it for what it was and get on with your life. I must say I did a damned good job raising my boys and I am sure part of that was because I knew very well what NOT to do, LOL.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

22. You weren't spanked. You were abused...

There's a huge difference. I'm sorry those things happened to you.
Duckie

[MuseRider]

26. Thanks, me too but

whatever life hands you you can learn from. A hard lesson to be sure but life is very good now and I learned to hold my temper and be a good person who hugged rather than hit my kids. I would say it was worth it sort of, maybe, well kind of. It was too long ago to worry about any more.

[Nikia]

20. Yes but I don't know if I can separate this from abuse

By that I mean not that I was injured by the spankings. It's just that the punishment was inconsistent based on my parent's moods and sometimes was for things that weren't my fault, especially when they were the fault of the other parent. Then there was the verbal stuff. I was traumatized, but I don't know if it was just from the spankings.

[bloom]

25. i was traumatized

more from rage that never affected me in an obvious physical way - as from the fear....

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

23. Never when I felt it was undeserved

and that is just what I got caught doing.

Do I spank my kids?
No.
I don't need to, they listen.

[Catholic Sensation]

24. SPANKING IS NOT ABUSE... IT'S A SLAP ON THE ASS

NOTHING MORE. BEING HIT REPEATEDLY IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Why is this concept so hard to comprehend?

[Randers]

27. If there is ANY redness

as a result, immediately following or otherwise, the "State", i.e. welfare people, consider it abuse.

[Catholic Sensation]

33. i couldn't care less what the state considers abuse

spanking a child isn't abuse.

[Randers]

39. I don't think that that categorically is correct

If someone is so spanked that they barely know they are spanked - sure, that's probably not abuse.

On the other hand - many are abused through spankings that are, in fact, battery.

[tech3149]

28. Abso frikkin tively

And I deserved it every time, even a few that I didn't get it

[johnnie]

29. I'm sorry so many of you were abused

I was spanked as I have said on a few of these today, but not abused. I have a good relationship with my parents, and we even laugh about some of those past things sometimes.
Once again I am sorry for the ones who were abused.

[agingdem]

30. To say I was beaten ...

would be a massive understatement. A beating is abuse...and my parents were masters at it.

[eyesroll]

31. I can count the number of times I was spanked on one hand, maybe

Never hard, never more than one swat, and always at the immediate moment of infraction (no "go up to your room and wait for me"-type delays). Never as a punishment -- more as a "knock it off" if I was in imminent danger.

I don't think spanking would have been the most effective form of discipline for me, anyway. I was (and am) a royal klutz, so I'm always hurting myself and I have a high pain tolerance. The "you're too smart for this utterly stupid behavior" lecture really got to me, as did "we're very, very disappointed in you/we raised you better than this/why do you want to embarrass us and yourself like this?" since I was known for being this smart, good kid who tried to please. (I'm probably an anomaly here -- I feared the lecture much more than I feared the yelling, even when I was really little.)

[Lizz612]

37. I too feared the "We're disappointed" lecture more.

I was never spanked, and got TONS of time outs on the stairs (as much for me as for them to cool down. But the lecture and the looks kept me in line as I too was eager to please.

[no_hypocrisy]

32. The issue isn't that I was spanked. I protest the circumstances

that instigated the over-the-top response.

[Amaya]

35. Yes, I was spanked

No, I wasn't traumatized. Thanks Mom :)

[SarahB]

36. Rarely

[Kadie]

38. Only once, a glass of cold water thrown on me was much more effective.

My brother on the other hand was routinely spanked when he was young, and my parents continued to have a difficult time with him. The spankings didn't accomplish much.

[HEyHEY]

40. I was spanked with belts, pieces of wood, hands - not affected today

I have a good relationship with my Dad and often laugh to myself when I think of it sometimes.

[KittyWampus]

42. Yes, Physical & Emotional Abuse. At Least I Realised Early On

that my two parents & grandmother (came from 3 directions) did the best they knew how.

Of course, their best was a disgrace.

Also had 2 older brothers who tortured me.

When I was about 10 a voice spoke to me letting me know things would get better when I was older. And they did.

And I guess it's good there was no sexual abuse. Although noone taught me about sex... so that might be considered a form of neglect. or something.

I don't consider "spanking" abusive though. It's when it crosses the line of inflicing pain, intentinally or not.

[Angelus]

43. I was spanked as a child and I'm not tramatized.

I learned by spanking. These spoiled assholes don't learn shit cuz their parents spoil them instead of punishing.