When I was growing up, it was almost always my dad who was the one to spank us when we misbehaved. He would take down our pants then pull down our underwear. Then he would spank our bare butts with his hand around 25 or so times, and we would have a very red and sore bottom afterwards.
I do remember Mom spanking my sister once – she used a spatula across her bare bottom. I remember my sister crying hard as it was done – but otherwise I don’t think Mom ever spanked.
Corporal punishment was also in use at our school – we got the paddle and it was used pretty often. We always wore jeans to school because it’s cold where I grew up, so actually the paddle didn’t hurt too much.
However, there was no chance of hiding the fact that we got paddled from our parents – Dad owned a grocery store in town and both my mom and my sister worked there, so it was easy to hear all the gossip from our classmates. If we got into trouble at school we would sometimes get another spanking at home, and certainly we would if we had not told our parents about our sore bottom and they subsequently found out! Both my sister and I got spanked until we were around 14 years old. By then, of course, Dad seeing our private parts was almost as painful as the spanking itself!
Nevertheless, writing now as a mother, I still believe strongly in spanking, provided it’s administered in a loving environment. Having clear rules and boundaries applied compassionately – and clear punishments when you fail – is really beneficial for children.
Adults have the threat of jail to keep them in check and kids need their bottoms spanked for the same reason. All the spankings I got were justified, and in truth I probably deserved many more than I actually ever got.
One last thing. When i was raising my kids, I had a liberal friend who was sure she would never spank her children. But when her eldest was 10, she asked her mom outright to spank her instead of grounding her, because she saw how much happier my kids were. I think that says a lot for the benefits of a sore bottom!
Contributor: Caya