I was reared in a family in which spanking and yelling at children were a common form of discipline. In fact, it was the only form of discipline. My family laughed when I said that I would never hit my own child.

I know that I will never be able to change their belief about spanking, but I never realized how much it bothered me to see a child hit by an adult until my brother spanked and threatened to spank his 14-month-old son three times during a short visit to my home…

I completely agree with you about spanking. Not only does violence often beget violence, but this sort of corporal punishment also is completely inappropriate for a parent to exercise on a child as young as 14 months. A child that young has very little understanding of actions and consequences; spanking or the threat of spanking is simply useless.

The fact that your brother resorted to this three times during a short visit shows how ineffective this sort of punishment is and how ineffective (or overwhelmed) he is as a parent…

Source: Winston-Salem Journal
http://tinyurl.com/yoa37o