Thank you for posting your story. I too was abuse...

2012-01-29T03:52:13.652-05:00

Thank you for posting your story. I too was abused by fanatical "Christian" parents. Their spankings were so horrible I still have nightmares about them. They used a whip and always made me get completely undressed. I hated for anyone to see me naked and they knew it. I'd have to lay on a bed with my legs spread apart. I'd close my eyes so I wouldn't see the whip

I was spanked, I have a great relationship with my...

2011-12-10T20:49:44.718-05:00

I was spanked, I have a great relationship with my parents, and I believe they did the best they knew at the time.

However, I will not spank my children.

In the long run, there are better ways to achieve the goals that my parents spanked me for (and as a child I assumed I would spank my children for). Yeah, it might take more time and effort on the parents part, but--as

Its hard to read Beth's story. It makes me sa...

2011-11-15T18:15:34.632-05:00

Its hard to read Beth's story. It makes me sad to know she endured such abuse as a child. Sadly I can testify that many people abuse children in the name of discipline. My own mother was a good example of that.

My mother and father got divorced when I was about age 8. My two sisters and I were raised by mom and I didn't see dad very much during my grwoing up years.

to the lady that wrote this letter, you were not s...

2011-11-07T23:51:35.152-05:00

to the lady that wrote this letter, you were not spanked you were abused.

I have a sore jaw after reading this post and the ...

2011-11-02T21:29:21.956-04:00

I have a sore jaw after reading this post and the comments ... from clenching my teeth against the anger and sadness for all of those that got spanked like that. I was spanked with a wooden spoon a few times, but only a swat and i don't remember it at all. I believed that it was ok, that i turned out ok, and didn't have an adversion to spanking my future children...that was until one day

I think it's fascinating how many of you spank...

2011-11-02T14:43:56.889-04:00

I think it's fascinating how many of you spankers feel like you have to post lengthy explanations as to why *your* method of spanking is okay and isn't actually abuse. You might want to examine why you feel the need to justify yourself so much.

My parents were the "reasonable" kind of spankers who always explained why I was getting spanked, did it when they weren'

I wish that I could give you a big hug! Some pare...

2011-11-02T09:44:14.949-04:00

I wish that I could give you a big hug! Some parents don't realize that the choices they make in how they raise us shape the way we are as an adult. Because I was constantly told to be better as a child as an adult I forever feel like I have done something wrong and just wait for someone to lash out at me. I try to choose my words so carefully when dealing with my 3 year old. My physical

So hard to put into words the suffering spanking c...

2011-11-02T00:25:41.586-04:00

So hard to put into words the suffering spanking causes. My Father spanked much like as described by Beth in fact almost the same 'rituals'. He thought that he was 'spanking' for a purpose to disciplne and raise well behaved children not that he was abusing. He also regularly required perfection and not to have to ask twice for my brother and I do something,that when he did he

I yelled at my young child once and he yelled back...

2011-11-01T23:15:24.635-04:00

I yelled at my young child once and he yelled back. I immediately pictured me as a single Mother with this boy that I couldn't control after a series of incrimentally worse, negative discipline efforts on my part. I have since, spoken to him in a loving soft tone and he tunes right in to every word. Simple magic!

I had a few spankings as a child, too. Not like th...

2011-11-01T23:01:52.709-04:00

I had a few spankings as a child, too. Not like this, though! Insane! For a "man of God" to advocate ABUSING A BABY FOR CRYING?!?! My mother mostly spanked me, but not like this. And NEVER as a baby, good lord. I doubt that I will spank my children. I've never spanked any child in my care, and considering I love my own child more than any other, I can't see me spanking him.

I grew up in a very toxic houshold. My father was ...

2011-11-01T21:40:26.478-04:00

I grew up in a very toxic houshold. My father was feared and little to no communication existed between us. I had nothing of any value to contribute or say. Verbal and emotional abuse for many years and he was a very physically abusive bully who did not hide the killing of our pets for their minor normal animal infractions! Not good for a 6 year old.

This layed the foundation for an

My parents ecspecially my father are always slappi...

2011-10-24T10:53:30.462-04:00

My parents ecspecially my father are always slapping, beating me, with shoes, throwing stuff at me, tying me down and whipping me i m soooo scared help!

Just saying, there is a way to spank without being...

2011-09-25T20:16:51.265-04:00

Just saying, there is a way to spank without being abusive. I was spanked as a child, and don't remember more than about two or three of them (and they were not bad - maybe one smack to a clothed bottom that barely registered) but what I remember more is the words that were said to me...I was bullied a lot in school and that was worse than spanking was. Abuse and spanking are two different

oh oh oh this hurts to read. I feel as though you&...

2011-09-14T09:22:33.024-04:00

oh oh oh this hurts to read. I feel as though you've put into words what I felt as a child, especially the sexual part. I've never been able to describe it before to anyone accurately. I am thankful and grateful that my parents didn't hit much, and by the time their youngest were born, they didn't hit at all. But it doesn't take much to make awful horrible memories... so

I felt sick reading this story, but thank you Beth...

2011-07-22T14:28:15.681-04:00

I felt sick reading this story, but thank you Beth for sharing. I know it must have been extremely difficult to type this, and it's not a level of detail I can manage to describe myself. But what you describe fits very much in my experiences as I can remember them. There are parts that I cannot remember, as I tended to black out when the beating started. But the whole ritual of it all,

IF YOU HAVE TO SPANK YOUR CHILD YOU ARE WORKING ON...

2011-07-20T02:07:25.183-04:00

IF YOU HAVE TO SPANK YOUR CHILD YOU ARE WORKING ON THE WRONG END!! (and you obviously lack the mental capacity to discipline any other way but by using physical force-you should seek help.)

I got spanked a few times in my life, but it was n...

2011-07-18T10:44:06.172-04:00

I got spanked a few times in my life, but it was not like in your story. I had my pants on and it was only one spanking and go to your room and think about what you just did or said. It had to be extremely bad what I did to deserve a spanking. I don't remember why and I don't consider in my case that I was abused. In your case it was purely criminal. Religion can be very dangerous

I am very glad that my parents spanked me and my w...

2011-07-13T15:13:10.856-04:00

I am very glad that my parents spanked me and my wife and I spank our 5 kids when they do wrong or are disrespectful towards us or any other adult, however the only people allowed to spank our kids are other family members. The Bible teaches us as parents to spank our kids when they have done wrong, but it doesn't tell us to beat our kids there is a difference between spanking and beating.

You are very brave to share your story with the wo...

2011-07-12T14:03:24.159-04:00

You are very brave to share your story with the world. I hope that the debate this brings about pro-spanking vs. not spanking encourages even just ONE parent to change their ways. Spanking is abusive no matter how light or how often it is used. I hope that parents will read the links provided under the article and see that love is a much more powerful teaching tool for our children than

I was spanked, as were my brothers. I was moleste...

2011-07-12T12:04:27.494-04:00

I was spanked, as were my brothers.

I was molested by my oldest brother until I was 9 years old, when I discovered that it was illegal and told someone. Every time my oldest brother did it, he started off with spanking. He was a mean big brother until he wanted to do something sexual, and then he was nice. When he spanked me, he would stop after I cried out once and would sweetly say,

Reading this letter broke my heart. I don't k...

2011-07-12T11:17:56.007-04:00

Reading this letter broke my heart. I don't know Beth but I felt myself mourning the joy and the innocent childhood that she was denied, as well as the "normal" adulthood that has been elusive to her.
I do hope that someone will read this letter and have second thoughts about spanking their own children. But reading all of the comments on here from people saying they were

To 62 yr old anon above... Would you consider it o...

2011-07-11T22:09:14.819-04:00

To 62 yr old anon above... Would you consider it ok for your husband to hit you if you 'disobeyed'? Or your daughters husband to hit her if she disobeyed? Probably not. Why then, is it ok to hit a child for acting incorrectly? And yet when an adult behaves incorrectly it is up to god or the justice system to handle it? Why does an adult go to jail for hitting another adult against

This was a tough read. I was abused by my mother ...

2011-07-11T21:58:09.795-04:00

This was a tough read. I was abused by my mother as a child and taken in by my grandparents at age 11 when she died. They rarely spanked me but would occasionally lash out in anger and slap me or grab and shake me. I still defend their behavior to people saying that I was very difficult to deal with because the 11 years I had lived before that were so difficult. They were doing the best they

I am a happy, healthy adult, and a mother of 3. I...

2011-07-11T21:00:37.066-04:00

I am a happy, healthy adult, and a mother of 3. I can say that my parents "spanked" me sparingly as a child. My parents had no terrible ritual, and I knew than anytime they used a physical action to correct me, I had done something that jeopardized my safety, or my siblings' safety (so there was rhyme and reason). I love and respect my parents for the way I was raised.

Comments on peaceful parenting: How Spanking Changed My Life