One aspect of spankings few people mention when discussing childhood discipline is the element of panic. It swallowed me as soon as I knew I was getting a spanking.
I’d back away from the frustrated parent, pressing against the wall, hoping it wouldn’t happen to me after all. Of course, this hope was always in vain. I’d be grabbed by the arm and dragged across their knee into the traditional punishment position for children, my heart beating fast, my arms and legs kicking and flailing to get away. Then I would be spanked.
I was only ever given around five to 10 spanks on the seat of my knickers, and only got smacked about 10 times in my whole childhood, from the ages of about four to nine. The smacking wasn’t harsh, it wasn’t abusive – it just gave me a warm bottom for a while. But God, do I remember the panic, gasping as the parental hand splatted against my buttocks, sobbing bitterly as I tried in vain to get away.
In later life, these experiences have led me to believe that if children are to be spanked, it should be something done fairly regularly so that such chastisements don’t inspire panic. I think it’s far crueller to reserve CP as the last resort.
Instead, I think spankings should be a regular part of family life, with different severities for different crimes – a single smack for smaller sins, proper over-the-knee spankings for serious issues. The absence of panic would allow for proper absorption of the situation, the sting and the lesson imparted.
I don’t plan on having children myself, and I likely wouldn’t spank them even if I did, purely because it’s so widely disparaged and legally restricted these days.
However, looking back, I do wish that I’d been spanked more often by my parents. I still carry a lot of pent-up guilt over incidents which I got away with as a child, but for which I really should have been severely punished. In most of these cases, I honestly think a sound spanking would have helped.
So my appeal to today’s parents, if they do spank their children, is to avoid causing panic at all costs. By all means punish tender little bottoms, but not young minds.
Contributor: Gemma