fandomsandfeminism:

misanthropicfeels:

trilies:

oncerbat:

trilies:

fandomsandfeminism:

oncerbat:

fandomsandfeminism:

So many Pro-Spanking advocates talk about how they “Deserved” to be hit by their parents because they were “a bad kid.” And it makes me so sad.

You weren’t.

You weren’t a bad kid, and you didn’t deserve to be hit. Maybe you were a difficult kid, maybe you struggled with boundaries or rules or expectations. Maybe you had bad behavior much of the time. But you, yourself, were not and are not a BAD person for that, and you didn’t EARN violence. You didn’t have it coming. It shouldn’t have happened to you. 

This is exactly the type of thinking that leads people to believe they don’t deserve Hell because they think they’re basically good-hearted.  There is a stark difference between discipline and abuse! 

Dont hit children.

http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/23732-spanking-does-more-harm-than-good

@oncerbat I’ll bite. In your words, what is the difference between discipline and abuse? At what point does spanking go over the line?

It’s not necessarily the acting of spanking itself, but the reason for spanking.  I was spanked as a kid, and I have not suffered any form of psychological trauma into adulthood. Consequently, those who aren’t spanked are usually the ones who feel entitled to everything and get offended by practically everything as well. 

Now, if someone spanked kids for just about every minor infraction, then it might carry over into abuse, or if you spank your kid out of anger, but a slap on the bum is supposed to teach kids obedience where they are reminded of temporary physical pain for not obeying their parents, Parents should be feared by their kids. Feared does not mean I’m afraid Mommy or Daddy is going to punch me for no reason. I mean feared as respected. There’s a huge difference between someone who spanks their kid for lying to them vs someone who hits their kid in a drunken rage because they spilled something or spelled a word incorrectly. 

What does the non-spanking parent do when their child throws a temper-tantrum in the grocery store? I’m not a parent, but based on my past experience with my parents, I would say it’s perfectly justifiable and not abusive to spank the kid. Why? Because it teaches them respect in a way that’s quick and well-remembered. If you just tell the kid to stop, they’re probably not going to listen. 

Spanking is supposed to teach kids respect,self-control, and accountability among others. And it should be mainly used for young kids. 

I know this response will face backlash, but if you need further info, read this http://madamenoire.com/40373/8-reasons-to-spank-your-kids/6/ 

fandomsandfeminism has talked about alternatives to spanking here. 

With that said, I will say that my mother spanked me exactly the way you described as ideal: not out of anger, not for every little infraction, always after other punishments had been tried, and she made it clear what I was being spanked for. Heck, she was even sad a lot of times when she “had” to do it! 

So here’s a story: 

I’m in elementary school, and just learning more complicated math along the lines of division. I’m bad at math now, and I was bad at math then, so I wasn’t getting my homework. It made no sense to me. More than half my worksheet is blank. The logical thing to do would have been to go to my mother, right? Ask for help. 

Instead, I hid my homework, hoping desperately  that I could convince the teacher I lost it, because I was convinced that if I told my mother that I couldn’t do my math homework, she would spank me. And spanking, being hurt like that, was something I hated and feared more than anything else. The only reason I ended up showing it to her and my aunt who was visiting (at TEN AT NIGHT, when i should have been asleep) was because I realized in my anxiety that my teacher would tell my mother anyway, and I’d still get punished. My mother didn’t spank me for it, but that didn’t get rid of the thought in my child mind. 

So that’s what spanking taught me

It taught me to associate making mistakes or disappointing my parents with pain. It taught me to avoid going to my parents when I was confused, or had done something I thought was wrong. It taught me not to manage my anger in any true way but instead bottle it up, whereupon it would eventually explode, thus getting me in trouble anyway. 

And, again, because I cannot repeat myself enough: my mother spanked me in all the ways pro-spanking people say is the right way. She did it right, according to your logic, and I still am messed up by it, a fact I’ve only in recent years come to terms with. And I’m a full grown adult! 

A good friend of mine was also spanked, and said none of her issues, as far as she can tell, stem from that. However, she has talked about how damaging spanking can be at length, and I want to share a quote about it with you:

It is, in fact, possible to spank sparingly, or within some realm of reason, or for kids to not come away from it severely damaged. But it’s possible in the way that winning the lottery is possible. The fact that people have beaten the odds doesn’t mean that the odds are in your favor. Or, in this case, your kids’ favor. You are literally gambling with your child’s emotional and neurological well-being, and their relationship with you, every time you hit them instead of finding a less violent alternative. Even if you are so in control of yourself that you never strike them purely in anger/frustration, and so enlightened that you’re always very careful and thoughtful about just when and how you hit your kids (that is the most ridiculous sentence I have ever had to type, dear god in heaven), you don’t know how your kid will react. You don’t know if they’ll be okay. You don’t know if they’ll come away with respect or fear or resentment or trauma, because that’s outside your control. And what you’re saying is that, frankly, the odds say it’s more likely you’ll damage your kid than not, but it’s worth the risk to you.

I can talk more about the ways I’ve learned that spanking did me no favors, but hopefully you get the point here. “Discipline” does not mean “violence”. 

Aaaaand of course there’s the millions of normal people who are just fine from spanking AND aren’t little psychologically damaged from being properly disciplined lmao like what kid thinks “Oh, I’m bad at math! Best make things worse by not turning in my homework and failing!” Like? Did your mom not teach you to ask for help or ask for someone to help you learn something? Lmao XD

Emphasis on “properly” because you should know what actions lead to a spanking, and what to do to avoid those things.

Our generation is pathetically soft and sheltered and fragile, and that’s the fault of bad parenting. This generation is going to raise even softer, weaker kids (Well, those of us that choose to have kids) and they’re going to crumble and cry and falter at every little thing just like this generation does.

“ I need to hit children so they aren’t so soft and weak” is a pretty bad parenting outlook, to be honest.

Also if a kid is scared to admit to failure and to ask for help, hitting them for failing is going to help them feel less scared, right? …right?

oxyconundrum:

““When I was about 20 years old, I met an old pastor’s wife who told me that when she was young and had her first child, she didn’t believe in striking children, although spanking kids with a switch pulled from a tree was standard punishment at the time. But one day, when her son was four or five, he did something that she felt warranted a spanking–the first in his life. She told him that he would have to go outside himself and find a switch for her to hit him with. The boy was gone a long time. And when he came back in, he was crying. He said to her, “Mama, I couldn’t find a switch, but here’s a rock that you can throw at me.” All of a sudden the mother understood how the situation felt from the child’s point of view: that if my mother wants to hurt me, then it makes no difference what she does it with; she might as well do it with a stone. And the mother took the boy into her lap and they both cried. Then she laid the rock on a shelf in the kitchen to remind herself forever: never violence. And that is something I think everyone should keep in mind. Because if violence begins in the nursery one can raise children into violence.””

— Astrid Lindgren, author of Pippi Longstocking, 1978 Peace Prize Acceptance Speech (via jillymomcraftypants)

goldenheartedrose:

becausedragonage:

sapphichollstein:

iamryanhenly:

Parents should not be reading your journals

Parents should not be searching through your trash 

Parents should not be snooping on your private social media messages 

Parents should not be taking your bedroom door off 

Parents should not be invading your privacy 

reblogging this because when they go through my phone and find my tumblr they’ll see this

As an actual mom, I approve this message. If your parents say it’s a normal part of parenting, no. No it’s not. They are wrong.

^^^Cosigned, as another parent.

guineapig-crazed:

morbidly-tiny-alice:

prochoice-chick:

Yes spanking your child is abuse

Yes slapping your child is abuse

Yes telling your child they are fat/useless/stupid or any of that is abuse.

Don’t be abusive. Love your kids and those who trust you and are in your care.

How about unless you’re a parent, shut up.

Hmm no thanks 🙂 as a kid who was abused I have really specific opinions on this.

Don’t hit your kids, thanks

I’m a parent. Don’t hit your kids and don’t tear them down.

the-bi-writer:

kirkypet:

denyandfollow:

morganoperandi:

allthebeautifulthings9828:

Guys, look. They finally made a baby stroller for wheelchair-bound mothers. This is so important.

My wife is a physical therapist.  She started tearing up when I showed this to her.

I love seeing ableist norms broken.

Just a quick wave to RemapNI who adapt devices for people with disabilities

Reblogging for the above comment since the (wonderful) stroller in the photos is a proto-type, and unfortunately isn’t going into production. So it’s good to know there’s another company out there providing this kind of adaptive technology!