Parenting Choices: Navigating the Spanking Question

Okay, so today’s topic, spanking, may be a sensitive one for you based on your beliefs and ideas about parenting. Believe me, you’re not alone. Whether you are on the side of spanking or not, about 20% of parents admit to using physical punishment such as spanking or swatting as part of disciplining their children. Let me clarify, this is the percentage of parents who admit doing it. From what I see in my practice, it may be more common than that statistic lets on. However, among those that admit to spanking, interestingly, most also report not feeling very good about doing it. 

Why would the parenting world be so divided on this issue. It’s probably because nearly all parents report that parenting is their greatest joy and, simultaneously, nearly three-quarters also describe parenting as their greatest challenge. So almost all parents find joy in the task of being a parent, but nearly 75% also say it’s a big job that is hard to do. It only makes sense that parents who are frustrated or feeling challenged would consider using spanking as a way of managing their children’s behavior - it may have been used by the