Hitting a child is a very commonly recognized form of child abuse.

Do you agree that it should or shouldn't be?

And do you believe context matters?

Giving them a bit of a slap occasionally when they are bad might not be the best thing to do, but calling it abuse seems a stretch.

Context never matters.

I’d say it depends on the severity. I wouldn’t call it abuse if it’s a mild slap on the backside, although it can easily lead to abuse if the parents let their emotions get the better of them. Generally I think it’s much better to discipline through non violent means.

It depends on if they hit you first or not

All that demonstrates to a child is that the parent loses control of their emotions.

We don’t need to prove our physical strength on our children.

Hitting your kid if they're really acting up is perfectly fine. Sometimes it's only way to get them to behave or perform their duties.

Obviously, if you do it for every little thing, then it starts to get abusive.

I've never been hit by my parents. You don't need to hit your children to discipline them - it only teaches them that 1) you resort to violence to get your way and 2) you shouldn't get caught for the things you do

The only time I think context really matters is if they did something that flagrantly risked their life and/or the lives of others around them, and even then I would not jump to hitting them. Shouting would probably be equally effective.

Hitting your child is always wrong, context be damned.

I say it depends on the child and the parents. Sometimes kids need a good spanking to straighten them up but parents also shouldn't severely punish a child for petty stuff or strike them hard enough to cause actual harm. I'm okay with whatever as long as they aren't yelling in their face or using an iron to discipline them. Idk maybe I'm biased, my parents would grab w/e they could reach and go to town. I was a horrible child though haha. It definitely got me to think of the consequences before I do anything and deterred me from repeating past mistakes.

It was a joke 😅 clearly this isn't the right way to think

The real question is who hits the parent(s) when they misbehave?

there are other better and more effective ways to punish children than by physically assaulting them

yes, it is abuse, and it's pointless in the face of better discipline methods (negative punishment is better than positive punishment, for those behavioral psych folk out there)

My one friend was only spanked once as a child, and that was when she ran out into the middle of the road. She was lucky the car stopped in time.

Seeing how she could have been seriously hurt or killed, I'd say that was justified.

Context always matters. But some kids need their shit kicked in cause in the end theres only one thing humans universally know, fear.

And you think raising humans to obey those they fear is a good practice?

Parents who hit their children do it because they lack the ability to communicate with their child. Parents who don't hit their children but can't raise kids for shit, also lack the ability to communicate with their child. In short, communication is the real issue here, heck it's the issue in any relationship as well (most of the time). Have enough time to know your kids, nurture them, and be their friend. No child should be hit. Parents need to communicate well, and understand their kids better. If you can't do that, don't be a parent.

Yea. It's why the majority of people don't break the law. Fear of repercussions.

Fear leads to obedience, which leads to respect. Too much fear and you wont get anything but just the right amount does wonders.

"We hurt her because she might have hurt herself" does not seem like sound reasoning to me.

if they screech in my ear then yes i would smack the mf to the days of 100bc

Obedience to whom?

The one being feared in the hypothetical

I wonder how many people with opinions on this have kids

A better question is, how many of them are kids themselves?

My parents thought it was necessary to spank me to teach me lessons. Problem is, it would always be over some shit I didn't even do, or they misinterpreted, or a lie some other kid told, so I'd just end up super pissed off and resentful. It taught me nothing whatsoever.

Yooo my mother beat me up literally

two days ago. I'm 20 though so I'm

not really a kid anymore so yeah.

She did it to emphasize how much

of a loving, caring, and flexible mom

she's been to me my entire life.

Seriously. She slapped my face to

say that she loves me, and hit me

in the shoulders to say that she

cared about me.

It's like that every couple of months.

Completely unrelated to the topic

but I think it's been confirmed many

times that hitting your child does

absolutely fucking no good.

I don't think you should ever hit your kids. It would be better if you use non violent disciplinaries.

When I was a child if I did something wrong and my parent hit me as long as it wasn't going too far it was considered Discipline. Now however not so much.

Maybe a smack on the hand, but that's about it.

Anything more is abuse.

You guys all thinking of abusing a son or a daughter, I'm out here thinking about hitting someone else's kid. It's up to us as responsible adults to teach kids in a manner their parents can't, y'know what I'm saying?

Personally, just throw whatever you got in your hands.

Good time for kid to screw up: When you’re holding a newspaper

Bad time for kid to screw up: When you’re holding a brick.