Of all parenting topics I write about and raise awareness to, spanking is, by far, one of the, if not THE most controversial ones. People put a lot of energy into defending their right to hit their child. What they have forgotten is their impact. Children learn what they live. If you cannot control your hand and temper in times of frustration and high sensation, then you cannot and should not expect such from your child.
Tag: spanking
A Critique of Stefan Molyneux’s Discussion with Stephan Kinsella on Schooling
One of my strategies in sniffing out unequal or one sided relationships is to always shift the players around. Lets say a politician asked the question “How do you manage the behavior of the people?” Your response would likely be something like “Who are you? I am not your subject to be managed!” Of course you are probably thinking, well this is the difference between a young child who lacks experience and mental capabilities and an adult. I would somewhat agree, but also have strong disagreement. There is a little bit more subtlety at work.
“Collective Punishment”
If the kinderprison teacher doesn’t know who is guilty of some offense (real or imagined) he’ll just punish the whole class. This is an extremely common practice in government schools and similar places. I think the lesson this teaches is different than the one authoritarians might imagine.
Episode 065 – Skyler Interviewed on the Peaceful Anarchism Podcast (1h10m)
Episode 065 features an interview of Skyler by Peaceful Anarchism host Danilo Cuellar. The conversation is wide-ranging and covers such topics as Skyler’s books, voluntaryism, peaceful parenting, unschooling, Frederic Bastiat, voluntary communism, Democracy, property rights, spanking, kindness, addiction, and more.
Episode 063 – Skyler Interviewed on the Anarchist Standard (1h11m)
Episode 063 features an interview of Skyler by Anarchist Standard host Steve Rose from October 2015. They talk about libertarian property norms, peaceful parenting, strategy, getting together with other voluntaryists in your community, and more.
The Case Against Time-out
For generations, parents have sought a reliable and dependable way to handle childhood misbehavior. The most recent and popular discipline technique is time-out. Although time-out is better than spanking, it is not an appropriate way for parents to cope with the misbehavior of their children. Moreover, the use of time-out can create subsequent childhood behavior problems. These problems can affect the well-being of the child and severely strain the parent-child relationship.
Editor’s Break 006 – Spanking to Teach Danger to Children (8m)
Editor’s Break 006 has Skyler looking at the idea that children need to be spanked or slapped in order to learn the danger in things like running into the streets, or touching a hot stove. Spoiler warning: spanking is totally unnecessary in this and every other regard.
What Does a Punishment-Free Home Look Like?
I’m always a little surprised when people are horrified to hear I don’t punish my children. “How will they learn right from wrong?” is usually the first question, and I can see them picturing a household run by unruly hellions jumping on furniture and swinging from the ceiling fans. It’s not that we don’t have those moments (maybe not quite that extreme) — but as much as I want punishment-free to mean always calm, always peaceful, and rules always followed, that isn’t the truth either.
“Spanking” Children Is Domestic Violence
While the average American would look at you like you were crazy if you said it was okay for a man to hit his wife if she didn’t obey him, that same person would likely argue that hitting – or “spanking” – children is not only acceptable, but advisable for producing “well-behaved, functioning” members of society.
This not only defies logic, it defies science.
Spanking As a Prejudice Against Children
It’s been said that kids benefit from a good spanking. Some people justify this practice by claiming that today’s kids’ are getting out of control, and need to be punished more severely. Some folks might be surprised to learn that this generational view has been expressed throughout our history with regard to a number of specific populations of people within our society.