by Brittany Peterson

Created on: January 26, 2007   Last Updated: November 20, 2010

The hardest thing when it comes to disciplining a child is, at what age is appropriate? There are too many people trying to tell parents too many different things. Who can keep up with it? And when you don't, the parents end up in trouble. Granted, there are those out there, who take advantage of the discipline situation. And there are also those out there who do not. The State of California is trying to pass a law stating No More Spankings what-so-ever...on children three years and below. My son, who is now thirteen months old, knows what the word "no" means. When I say "no", and he does not listen, and then I warn him that he will get a spanking, and I say "no" once more...That is three warnings, then comes the spanking. I believe that three warnings is far from fair and there for a good spanking is in order or a good swat on the hand.

Then there are the questions of "How hard?" and "How many licks?". With my son, he did not learn when I barely tapped him. Children have their own limits that you must learn. When my son would act up, it didn't take me long to figure out what he reacted to. As for "How many licks?", I figure one spanking for each age year. My son is one, there for he gets one spanking per misbehavior. There is the exception, of course, that if he does not learn from his mistake the first time off the bat, then the licks increase. Usually by the second or third swat he listens up. It sounds like a lot of licks, but as I said before, I took the time to learn his limitations, so I know not to spank hard enough to call it "abuse" by any means, but hard enough that I get a reaction out of him.
The last resort should always be a spanking. That is why I always give at least three warnings before I physically dicipline. If the child still does not learn from his/her mistakes, it is not wise to keep spanking until you reach ten spankings for one mistake. Then that should be called as "abuse". If the child does not learn, he/she either, may not understand just yet, or you should try other alternatives such as removing the child from the area or try a "time out".

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