Lenny, I really like the way you stated your beliefs in this paragraph. I especially like "Spankings' are mild western annoitments of power as compared to other areas of our world."

To anoint:

1 : to smear or rub with oil or an oily substance
2 a : to apply oil to, as a sacred rite especially for consecration b : to choose by or as if by divine election ; also : to designate as if by a ritual anointment

THAT is how spankings should be thought of. It is NOT about our own anger, but about the degree of the wrong action taken by a child.

It is the final recourse that a parent has to teach their child right from wrong and should be used as such. It should not used as a blanket punishment for anything the child does that the parent doesn't approve of.

If you ask me, yelling and calling names, which most parents do as "discipline" is what truly leaves scars on the psyche of a child. My mother may have smacked me with my own leather belt. My recalled feelings on that are mild compared to the names the grandmother called me! My mother's "spanking" made me angry. The grandmother's words eventually made me think "if I have the name, I might as well play the game." That left a farther reaching effect on me than any beating with my own leather belt!

It's really interesting to me how a group of people can get off on a tangent of one little aspect of a whole and ignore the rest. The original subject was "are adults losing touch with the youth." It wasn't "do adults abuse children."

Lenny, I'd like to hear what you have to say on the original topic.