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Kate Gosselin, from the hit TLC reality show Jon and Kate Plus 8, was recently “caught” by the paparazzi spanking her daughter Leah. In Touch magazine plastered this picture on the front page of their magazine.
Cara and Alexis (?) are standing by, watching the whole thing. From the looks of it, they are hardly traumatized and probably figure that their sister Leah is getting a little bit of what was coming to her for not behaving.
I’m not writing about the incident to further fry Kate Gosselin on the proverbial media fire, but to support her choice in using spanking as a tool to teach children right from wrong.
Although spanking is frowned upon by many, if you were spanked as a child, didn’t it teach you quickly right from wrong?
Would you rather sit in time out for lengthy periods of time, or get a quick swat? I’d take a swat on my butt anytime to get back to what I was doing as quickly as possibly.
Yes, some children do get physically abused. I’ve investigated hundreds of child abuse cases in the past seven years and I’ve learned the difference between spanking and physical abuse.
While many claim that spanking is a form of physical abuse, I politely disagree. Some physical abuse cases I’ve seen include belt whippings that left deep welts up and down a sixteen year old’s back, a broken femur on a 10 month old, a cracked skull on a 3 month old, and many children covered in bruises or with mystery fractures.
Let’s not confuse spanking with child abuse unless the spanking becomes so forceful that it leaves physical marks. That might sound funny, really, that spanking is not abuse unless it leaves bruising or “signs”, but there are many children out there that need the attention of authorities to be saved from abuse and the Gosselin children are not those children.
You might disagree with spanking, so don’t spank your children. There are many “positive parenting” parents out there. Their children are the ones telling adults what to do and the children trying to reason with their teacher why they shouldn’t have to be quiet right now.
Sometimes a little fear of adults goes a long way. I’m not saying to go and beat your children into submission, but if my daughter decides to tell me off someday, she’s getting a swat on her butt. No questions asked.
13 Responses to “Kate Gosselin Gets Caught Spanking Leah, Now the Debate is On to Spank or not to Spank”
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From an educational perspective spanking makes little sense. Are you then making the rule that it is ok to hit if you are: bigger and angrier. There are so many better options than can result in children actually learning from their mistakes, rather than having to make fear based decisions.
I got spanked regularly as a child, and turned out fine. I grew up with a healthy respect for my elders, did well in school, and am now a contributing member of society. I’m an elementary school teacher, and see how some children turn out when there’s no discipline in the home. Spanking’s a form of discipline, and others are acceptable, as long as there IS some form of discipline in the home. Without it, my class becomes full of students who don’t cooperate, bully others, and have to be convinced that education is essential. Would that more parents spanked their kids.
I was spanked as a child and most definitely did not turn out alright. If you begin disciplining your children at a young enough age (I started “time out” with my daughter when she started talking) then you will never “need” to spank them. My daughter listens to me because I taught her how to examine her actions and see them from other perspectives.
I think that I was spanked once or twice. In hindsight I think that it certainly did more good than harm. It taught me very early on that there were real consequences to my decisions and actions and instilled respect of my parents while not diminishing love for them.
Whats more, I went to a school with corporal punishment, and was taken into the back room for a whuppin in the fourth grade. I instead got a talking to and a hug from my teacher. I pretty much did my home work after that, at least until high school.
I am not sure who is responsible for this state of affairs, but I have a sneaky suspicion that its aging hippies.
I completely agree. I was spanked as a kid and never felt like I was abused. a swat on the butt really is nothing in compariosn to abuse. And yes, if someone doesn’t agree with it no one is saying they have to do it. It’s up to each parent to decide.
I was only hit a couple of times as a child, because I was otherwise neglected, it took away the few shreds of dignity I had left. Under that circumstance it is so wrong.
As for under normal circumstance - Some people have no boundaries; therefore if society approves spanking, an undefined percentage will not be able to differentiate between that spanking and a beating. I think that must be at least part of the idea behind why it is no longer okay.
Off of the top of my head I tend to think that it should be okay under controlled circumstances; but then on the other hand, when we cannot be sure that control will enter into the equation - it again is ruled out.
Spanking a child for something that they do that can endanger their lives, I was not spanked, but was yelled at and given a back handed slap on the shoulder one time. That is abuse.
Spanking is not abuse but under controlled circumstances it works and if done to remind a child to stay out of dangerous situations.
I spanked my son (who is grown now) for running into the street. This was given out as punishment, like OK you were not supposed to do that, you knew you weren’t but did it anyway, well now it is time for the spanking, come here lay across my lap, one firm slap with a hand. That was it one slap. then he got up to go to timeout.
my brothers and sisters were spanked whenever we got out of hand.. and it did instill fear in us. a fear to not misbehave. it didn’t make us fear our parents in a way that we were afraid of them. We all turned out well and normal and I couldn’t hope for better parents.
When i had my kids, I gave them time outs but they never take it seriously. So i tried a swatting on the bum just like kate and now, they’re taking mommy seriously.
I just hope that other parents out there don’t abuse their authority and use and unleash their anger out on their children..
I can’t say I agree.
I just do not believe in hitting kids. They are so much smaller than adults, it’s humiliating and embarrassing and there has to be better ways. I imagine a more effective way would be a lot harder. Hitting is so easy, and you don’t even have to think about how the kid feels about it. I got hit frequently with a belt by my mother when I lived with her and mostly it taught me to be really afraid of her.
I don’t think a swat on the butt is the same as being hit with a belt, but it seems so harsh. If it were elderly men or women being hit, folks would probably be against that. If a man wanted to discipline his wife that way, people would be freaked out.
It’s not like I don’t believe in discipline. An undisciplined child can be like a unshovelled walk way. I just don’t think hitting someone is the right way to go about things.
I agree with you here. I was spanked as a child, and very quickly learned my lesson. My parents never “beat” me or anything like that, but if I did wrong, my rear found out about it very quickly. It’s amazing what a little corporeal punsishment will do for a child’s behavior. Good for Kate. Now let’s see them put their marriage back together. That would be a great story.
“From an educational perspective spanking makes little sense. Are you then making the rule that it is ok to hit if you are: bigger and angrier. There are so many better options than can result in children actually learning from their mistakes, rather than having to make fear based decisions.”
That’s like saying that after you sit a child down and explain to them that fire is HOT, they will learn to not put their hand on the stove. Every child is going to get their hand burned, and every one of them is going to learn, “I’m not supposed to put my hand on the stove.”
The rule spanking is making is that if you do something that you are not supposed to be doing, after being told that you are not supposed to be doing it, then you are going to have a consequence. Some children take well to time-outs; some don’t.
In the picture, you can see in Kate’s face that she is not pissed off to high hell; she has a straight face on and she is preparing to smack the child on the rear. She is not beating her child; she doesn’t have an “angry” face on.
Children do not always have the attention span to be sat down in a chair as you carefully explain to them why what they’ve done is wrong. Do you think that Leah (the child) REALLY didn’t understand that repeatedly blowing a whistle while her mother was trying to talk on the phone and while her mother repeatedly asked her to stop blowing the whistle just didn’t GET it? Seriously? Or do you think she’s a kid who was being annoying because it was fun?
So, she got smacked. BIG DEAL. You know what she learned? “Don’t blow a whistle while somebody is talking on the phone.” I really doubt she’s going to grow up to be a drug-addicted, bondage-craving prostitute who tells the Johns about “mean old mommy.”
Girl, PLEASE.
I would just like to say thank you! I completely agree that it is ok to spank your kids once in a while. should this be the only form of punishment? no, probably not. Used with time-outs, grounding, the distraction method, etc. spanking can be a tool used effectively. As for the poster who stated that spanking is embarrasing and humiliating to children…I am here to tell you, fro, my viewpoint, if you have seen any kids from the current generation, I would believe that you would see they could use a little embarrassment and humility. Nowadays, we treat our children like they are the queens and kings of the world, which is great while they are toddlers. We are told to encourage, dont be negative, nobody loses, everybody wins. but when you get into the real world, the workforce, where there are millions of people exactly like you fighting over jobs and loans and houses, this holier than thou attitude that we have given them is hindering them more than benefitting them… so, if you spank and it teaches them to be a little more humble…well, so be it.