Corporal Punishment

If you spank your children, take a minute to articulate exactly what the Bible says about corporal punishment.

For starters:

Spank for what offenses?
How long?
How hard?
With what?

Remember, Scripture must answer these questions.

Okay, do you have your Scriptures? Now I’ve always heard (by people I respect) that you only spank for the big Ds: disobedience and defiance. Some have added destructiveness. But where in the Bible does it say that I shouldn’t spank for a child hitting his sister? Or carelessly spilling his milk when I’ve told him a million times to be careful. Any scriptural guidance?

How long you say? Well, until the child’s “will” is broken. Or until they “melt.” Or until they agree to obey then and there, even if you put bruises on the child. But is this biblical, I want to know? Can you use Scripture to identify when you stop?

How about how hard? I caused some consternation among friends when I mentioned that I did not need to hurt my son when I spanked him. The emotional trauma of a spanking (over his diaper) was enough to change his behavior. The problem is that this flies against the collective cultural “wisdom” that says we must not through the diaper, it won’t hurt enough. And the “wisdom” that says a child must be in physical pain for a spanking to be effective or “biblical.” So do you have any Scriptures?

Last, what would you use? a stick? a hand? a glue stick? a paddle? How you understand the book of Proverbs will likely determine whether you supply a scripture for this question, and which ones.

I’ll give my answers another time.