A spanking, some of us have had them, others were lucky enough to avoid them. Spanking has been a disciplinary tactic that has been passed down from generation to generation. Spanking as a disciplinary tactic was recently placed on the forefront.   Adrian Peterson, star running back for the Minnesota Vikings lashed his 4 year old son with a switch causing whelps on the child’s leg. You can view the injuries to his son here.

Based on the images there is no doubt that Peterson went overboard. Because Peterson is a high profile athlete the debate has been whether or not a child should be spanked at all. In most cases, it is legally ok to use reasonable physical discipline as it relates to children http://kidjacked.com/legal/spanking_law.asp.

For those of us who adhere to “standards” set in the Bible, there are also some rules that are laid out for us as well. For instance Proverbs 23 states:

13 Do not withhold discipline from your children;
if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.
14 If you beat them with the rod,
you will save their lives from Sheol.

The Hebrew word for “beat” is: נָכָהnâkâh, naw-kaw´; a prim. root; to strike (lightly or severely, lit. or fig.):—beat, cast forth, clap, give [wounds], × go forward, × indeed, kill, make [slaughter], murderer, punish, slaughter, slay (-er, -ing), smite (-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, × surely, wound.^[1]

The argument for spanking is usually”I was spanked as a child and I turned out fine.”  I can honestly say the same, I was spanked as child and turned out fine.  Although I was spanked, looking back it, it was on rare occasion and I never had any bruises as a result of any spanking I received.  So does that make a “light beating” OK? Some say no.

On the other side of the coin is my wife Brooke.  Brooke was never spanked as a child and she turned out fine as well.  For Brooke all it took was a stern verbal warning.  I myself received stern verbal warnings as well and they did not always work.  So will our child dictate what type of discipline he or she receives?

Although society is shifting the overall laws regarding spankings are not changing.  Because of this I’m really not sure what I would do as a future parent.  At this point I cannot envision spanking our future child but I wonder if there would be anything he or she could do to lead me to smack their hand or spank them on their backside.  Let’s be real though, I don’t even hit my dog so how could I hit our child?

Do you think spankings are OK?  If so what type of activities warrant spankings? Help me decide whether or not I should spank my future child.

^[1] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.