If you're the kind of person who justifies child abuse with "My parents hit me all the time and I grew up fine", you didn't, in fact, grow up fine.

My mom would be gobsmacked to know that I classify her parenting as abusive. She insists things like "It's not like you were abused!" or "You weren't beaten or anything!" But all day, every day, I had to duck her "pops" and "snaps." She thought it was hysterically fun when, as an adult in my 40s, she could still put her fingers near my face, and I'd automatically duck and shrink back. DO. NOT. HIT. YOUR. CHILD. Not in ANY way. Countless studies have demonstrated over decades that any physical hit, smack, "tap," or whatever b******t term you want to use causes nothing but mental damage, and even a little "smack" will cause the same psychological problems as being beaten with a belt. ADULTS SHOULD NOT PHYSICALLY HARM CHILDREN. How many f*****g times do we need to say this?

My mom used to hit me all the time even though I behaved perfectly. She would hit me just because she was angry, but never in front of my dad or siblings (they’re from a different mother) My family never believed that she hit me when I told them. Mind you she hit me A LOT. She even would burn me with her cigarette sometimes and would blame it on me not being careful and burning myself 😑 Strangely I didn’t grow up into believing hitting your children is normal.

My dad used to hit me until I stood up to him in my 30s. Never hit me again. He’s a coward

Parents need to be taught alternative ways to punish. In the Bible Belt, all we knew was spanking. If a kid did something bad enough to jeopardize the safety of themselves or someone else, a “time out” just wasn’t enough. I don’t believe in corporal punishment, but I do understand that parents are sometimes left with no other alternative because they don’t know of any alternatives out there. It says a lot when even school administrators like to default to a paddling for serious offenses. No one knows any better.

S**t i was born left handed, She beated my a*s untill i start being right handed, só much só that i eat and write with my right hand, but for all the rest my left hand os dominant.

my family did that to me I have depression now

The thing I hate is when people say things like "If you have a (insert culture here) mom you'd get beat up for (insert totally benign behavior here)." Do not normalize it, abuse is abuse.

There ***IS*** a difference between a physical correction and abuse. It is BOTH legally defined and psychologically defined. Striking a child in a manner that does not leave lasting marks (also without an implement), physical discipline must be understood and a reasonable punishment for the crime. Swatting a toddler's hand for reaching for the stove is an immediate negative consequence that will serve as a deterrent. Falls under classical conditioning if repeated at future reachings. Spanking your 13 year old for mouthing off is not appropriate for the transgression and teaches nothing. Loss of cell phone privileges for a few days or ignoring the young person in an extraordinary way will make a lasting impact. My favorite caused my child to run into his room everytime immediately following "I hate you I wish you were dead!" I would say "That's s okay, you don't have to love me. I still love you!"

This is now banned a lot of places, my country included. It's only AFTER it's banned that you look back and realise how bad things had been..

Yep. Abusive parents have custody of my son for the past ten yrs. My son came to me when he was 5 saying, once poppy hit me and he left a purple mark straight after telling him that hitting is wrong and that u should never hit anyone

My mother, when I was still in school, would beat me with a belt for every bad grade I got on my report card. Years later and I can't even look at belts without having a panic attack.

once my dad smashed a pancake in my face because i said something he didnt like. i would cut him out of my life (im 14 and my parents are divorced) but i have to see him because of stupid custody agreements.

There is a VERY fine line here. Majority of parents cross it sadly. I got spanked as a kid, only a few times, I grew up fine with respect for people and I learned how to accept a NO from others without throwing a tantrum over it

I'm not morally opposed to spanking, but a lot of parents who spank just use it as an excuse to vent their anger instead of teaching/training/correcting any behavior.

My abusive parents have custody of my son for the past ten yrs. My son came to me saying once poppy hit me and he left a purple mark

This was my first stepfather 100%. He not only hit me and my younger brother and sister, but also his own son and daughter. He also grew up catholic in Louisiana, so that might explain most of it. His own son was 19 years old when he died from suicide. I’m leaning instead towards a combination of getting neglected as a minor and being told by both of his parents that he was completely worthless and he would be better off dead or homeless, basically depression. His father is now dead and I do know what direction he went, but I do believe that my former stepbrother is in heaven.

My dad hit me all the time and im trying not to have to go visit him anymore 9 hours away from my mom but in one year I can finally do it

I was whipped with a belt to the point that I had marks for weeks because I was the step child and was never good enough but I'm the only one out of all of my siblings that has had any success in life or respect for others success and belongings. Though I do believe beating your kids is wrong I think a reasonable amount of discipline can be a good thing.

My problem is hitting a child to hurt them badly. Lil spanking teaches a child a lot. Long as u telling them what they did was wrong. Then it was fine. I got my a*s cut, and I'm fine. Healthy relationship with any one. Very respectful and never been to prison. I have so much structure and ordinance that I live by everyday. So I strongerly disagree with a spanking is child abuse. Constantly beating on a child for no reason; and hitting them anywhere on there body is child abuse.

A long list of people that think time out is appropriate for little Tommy that is hurting other kids and think death penalties for murder is wrong and are shocked when they get popped in the mouth for being rude as adults...

There is a difference between discipline and abuse. I'm tired of people saying that a swat to the bottom is abuse. My generation's parents spanked us, and you know what? We didn't have hundreds of school shootings every year while we were growing up