PROS:

Spanking is expedient - it quickly delivers a powerful message in terms of behavior- modification.

Parents who lack the patience to teach through cognitive learning can use force as a means of discipline.

There's no need to waste a lot of time with verbal communication.

From our earliest days, primal grunts and gestures have served us well.

Parents can release pent-up anger & frustration and not have to worry about physical retribution.

This 'venting' of anger and frustration through spanking can be therapeutic for parents in the absence of a household pet to kick-around.

It gives parents a sense of tradition; not unlike shooting guns in the air on the 4th of July.

A sense of nostalgia can also be provided as parents can hark back to the good old days when they themselves were whacked around by parents showing how much they cared.

Parents who confuse fear with respect can feel a sense of accomplishment.

Children cringing in fearful subservience serve to provide parents with a sense of power and control.

Parents can feel they are preparing their kids for "that tough world out there".

After all, a parent can never know if the child may grow-up to one day find themselves in a job where the boss physically beats them for their mistakes.

CONS:

Violence towards children causes a degree of trauma which carries with it a high risk of the development of psychopathology.

The ranks of the mentally ill, substance addicted, and violent criminals are filled with individuals who were the victims of violent parents.

Children learn to strike-out when their sensibilities are offended.

It stands to reason that the best way to teach children how to be violent is to have them experience violence first-hand from the most influential teacher they'll ever have. Not only does spanking make violence a part of a child's reality, it can also provide a child with the anger to trigger violent behavior; because when parents fail to break the mind and spirit of a child through the ultimate act of rejection, anger is often the result.

The nurturing role of the parent is put at risk.

If the parent does not compensate for the hateful acts of violence toward their children with copius amounts of love and caring the children stand a very good chance of becoming alienated from the parent. As a result, offending behavior on the part of the children only increases; thereby turning the spankings into a totally counter-productive measure.

Spanking runs the risk of becoming criminal behavior.

Parents who employ corporal punishment as a means of 'discipline' take the risk of crossing the line into 'legal' child-abuse when under high levels of stress. This is how most cases of child-abuse occur.

Children may one-day forget the trauma of the violence inflicted upon them, but they never forget the acts of violence.

Parents who treat their children in a violent manner usually fail to consider, in one way or another, there will be a heavy price to pay as a consequence.

Children learn to abstain from certain unacceptable behaviors _so long as the parent is present_.

Some children will even find themselves _more_ prone to these unacceptable behaviors in the absence of the parent through retribution or the "forbidden fruit is the sweetest" phenomena. The reason? Through spanking, children become dependent on external controls (fear) for behavior rather than developing internal controls (self-discipline/conscience) as a result of gentle, patient guidance.

Children who are not afforded dignity or treated in a respectful manner have a difficult time learning what those things are all about.

Why else would so many children grow-up with the notion that 'dignity' equates with 'demeanor' and 'respect' equates with 'fear'.

CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE
If a child	lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child	lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child	lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child	lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child	lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child	lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child	lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child	lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child	lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child	lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child	lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.
© 1963 - Dorothy Law Nolte