When's a Good Age to Start Spanking? Sarcasm.

What is an appropriate age to start to strike your children?

Five years? Two years? Three months? Fresh out of the womb?

How should it be introduced? Should it begin with a flick of the middle finger to the forehead? A slap on the back of their hand? A backhand or forehand slap to the face or midsection? A coathanger to the bare buttocks?

And when should we discontinue the practice? When they are thirteen? When they are twenty? When they stop disappointing you?  Or when they grab your hand, put their face in yours and tell you, "NEVER do that again."

Thousands of studies have been done to find out the effectiveness of corporal punishment (violent disciplining.) How much is too much? how much is too little? How frequently should it be used for best results? how hard should I hit? Should it be different for a one month old infant and a five year old? Should I remove the child from public view? Should I use a tool (weapon) or bare hands, pants up or pants down?

Unfortunately, every study keeps coming up with similar results: avoiding violence--both verbal and physical, produces a healthier child. There is no argument among scientific studies on this point. Every study.

For many parents, the jury is still out because no one has scientifically deduced that smackin' the tyke does him any good. Any day now someone may publish a study that suggests we had it right all along, and the periodic butt-kicking will develop a well-balanced child. And because our fierce violent response comes so automatically, it seems to be natural. Some angry parents believe those scientists with the lame test results were looking in the wrong place, or they must be afraid of their kids.

James Dobson says it's OK to hit. He doesn't care about those scientists either. If he's going to fly in the face of all the evidence and say it's OK, if he believes he is preaching moderation as to the degree of force, then he should make videos available showing how lightly he's hitting, how few times he spanks, how much "love" there is in every responsible whack.

Although I am in TOTAL disagreement with James Dobson on the hitting question, he's on a thousand radio stations and in hundreds of papers. If he were to film guidelines for moderating ferocity, society would benefit.  If he isn't guiding specifically by SHOWING us, then he is simply telling America that hitting is OK. That leaves it to the childhood experience (or the anger level) of the whacker as to just how senseless to beat his little darling for slopping juice on her dress.

If I've been unclear, should I expect a confused parent to step up and slap me for not being clearer?  Or should I be held down and spanked for failing my responsibility to be crystal clear?  How old must you be before you are entitled to conclude that the beating you've just received had nothing to do with love?