Week 11

This week we spoke about parenting. We talked about being a good parents and being involved with your child. At the end of the week we spoke about spanking. I found the discussion interesting and it was nice listening to most peoples opinions. I agree that there may be some circumstances that spanking could be your last resort but I feel even stronger that there will always be another, more effective option. When your kids disobey you, act out, or are frustrated, spanking isn't going to solve the long term problem. It may work in the short term but your child needs to feel loved, understood, and they need to feel as if there emotions are valid and not over looked. How much would an adult like it if we were to say to them, "Oh ignore them when they act that way, they're just looking for attention" or "Why are you so frustrated? It's not that big of a deal, get over it." Now I'm not saying everyone talks to there kids this way but when we don't take what the child is feeling into consideration then this could be how they take it. It could put a serious barrier. If we take the time to ask our 4 year old why they are screaming and mad we may find out they feel scared about something or that they just needed a little attention because they felt a little neglected. It will probably come out more like "I'm sad." or "You didn't play blocks with me like you said you would" But the general idea is that children have valid emotions and they deserve to be respected. They deserve unconditional love, not to only be shown love or have their love withdrawn because they aren't acting the way we want them to or being the person we expect them to be at that age. They are there own person too, and yes we need to guide, direct, and encourage our children to be good, thoughtful, and loving people but we don't need to ignore them, spank them, or make them feel like we just can't be around them when they act that way. I'm not a parent and I don't have this perfected, obviously, but I have come to create a more solid idea of how I will discipline my children and how I will try my hardest to raise them. I hope this all makes sense and that I don't come off as a crazy no punishment hippy attitude, I just feel very strongly about children having the same respect that adults expect.