‘The Rod' Promises Easier Child Beatings

The Rod, a spanking tool for parents.

I think I actually remember once when my dad spanked me. I know that it tortured him to do it – and I remembered it smarted but didn’t bruise. The bruises usually came from my daily falls down the stairs or my sister and I chasing eachother around the house and ramming into the sharp-cornered coffeetable – or she’d slam her door shut as I chased her and catch my head in the door. This was usually when mom and dad were out getting groceries and they would have us agree to babysit eachother. I’d start crying when I was hurt, Heather would start crying and we’d grieve that mom and dad were going to give us away and we could never ever tell them that one of us got hurt. Ah, childhood pacts! For physical discpline the one thing that really worked was a little tap on the cheek – not a slap – but a little annoying What the hell are you doing? tap. Catholics know that physical abuse only lasts so long – telling a child you are disappointed in them lasts so much longer and can be used to leverage more effectively (Erma Bombeck called guilt ‘the gift that keeps on giving’).

Which brings us to The Rod – currently tearing up the blogosphere. Evidently belts and tree branches just aren’t elegant anymore for child beating. I forgot who told me the story but that the worst part of a spanking was when his dad told him to go out in the yard and choose his switch. The ad promises:

Spoons are for cooking, belts are for holding up pants, hands are for loving, and rods are for chastening.

Chastening? Give me a break – you’re beating your kid with a stick. And from the product instructions (do parents have to be told everything these days?):

View the use of the rod as chastening to promote godliness rather than punishment for failure. Examine your heart: Are you disciplining in love? Always avoid the rod while angry.

Do you dare to discipline?


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31 responses to “‘The Rod' Promises Easier Child Beatings”

  1. Alan Avatar

    when I was a kid and was really bad, my mother was known to shout outside to my father, “Stan! Bring me a crate slat!” (We lived on a farm…there were wooden crates, they’re made with crate slats.) They NEVER used one, but the threat was enough to “chasten” me.

  2. sam Avatar

    I remember the one time my mom made me go get a “switch.” That was so much torture that she didn’t bother with the spanking, and I don’t remember ever having one.

  3. Sidsel Avatar

    When I was a kid we moved to Sweden for a few years. The Swedish government had just passed a national law that forbid adults from hitting children. I was only six, but somehow I knew this… maybe overheard it on the news or something.

    One day I was being a bad kid, and my mom spanked me. Instead of crying, I looked at her and said, “That’s illegal.” To this day my mom and I laugh about it, but she said she was so frustrated because the spanking didn’t have the desired affect. I got sent to my room.

  4. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    I have to say that I am shocked that spanking has become so demonized. I am only in my late thirties, but EVERYBODY got spanked when I was growing up. It was just understood. I think it is a baseless falsehood that spanking, in and of itself, causes psychic trauma in children. Otherwise you’d have whole generations of us who would be well and truly traumatized. For instance, the Boston Blobe article that all this is based on has nothing whatsoever in it that gives any sociological or scientific foundation for the crusader’s assertions that spanking is bad for children. The best they can do is roll out some tired doctorly quote that “this could cause injury” to a child. That could be said about anything picked up in a house.

    Funny to me how there is such an uproar over this and yet nobody is yelling over so many things that are proven to damage children; too much TV and video games, the affects of being latchkey, divorce. American parents are so soaked in guilt and self-deception about the alleged fragility of their children that they’ve become afraid to discipline or train. Such a shame for our children

  5. adelina Avatar

    when i was younger i had to lay on the couch my mom would come
    and put my legs up and she with give me about 3 dozen spanks it
    really hurt

  6. Zoe Avatar
    Zoe

    I was spanked by my Mom up to the age of 11. When I’d done something she felt deserved a spanking, she’d shout at me and pull my pants down instantly. Then she’s smack me extremely hard on the bare bottom, with me in a standing position. Sometimes she’d smack so hard that I’d wet myself uncontrollably.

    I feel her spankings were done in anger, in an uncontrolled manner, and I always felt worthless and hurt afterwards – and so angry.

    I think that spanking can be an effective parenting tool, but it must be administered in a calm, loving way – in order to a) reduce the chances of the spanking being too severe (the child should not be wetting themselves), and b) in order for the child to understand that despite the spanking, they’re still loved and worthwhile.

  7. josh Avatar
    josh

    ok, im 14 years old. Im terrified by ings. Just the mere thought of being “spanked” is disturbing and still can bring me to tears. As a Young child i was ed for doing bad things….My father came into the room, he was speaking in a hurtful manner,”Pull down your pants”, I was already hurting inside, i felt like the earth had fallen on my back and i had to somehow free myself from the overwelming burden. I couldnt do anything, there existed no hope. He had four fingers up, he tempted five. I was crying, then, with courage, i pulled down my pants. i could feel myself crash on my fathers legs, eyes closed. SMACK, WHACK, SNAP. I feel hurt, BURN, SIZZLE. And there i was, lifelessly strewn on the floor, left there to somehow think. But thing about what, BURN, SIZZLE. Ouch. i felt pain, i my chest, it wasnt my body… it was heart, broken, shatterd.

  8. coolie Avatar
    coolie

    Spanking is a sexual fetish. Spnking children is illegal and has been so for a LONG time…since 1865 in Italian schools for example…but has been illegalized as a form of discipline (in homes too) throughout most of the world. It started in Sweden in 1978, and the last to put a total ban on it were Canada (2004). It’s sick and plain wrong. I know several people who as grown ups are still traumatized by such intolrable methods of bringing up HUMAN BEINGS.

  9. Janet Avatar
    Janet

    I remember being spanked as a child like it was yesterday-
    I was a bad kid. Always getting myself into trouble. Always earning myself hard smacks on my bottom.
    My Daddy was the big spanker in my house. My mother never really did it.
    I expesilly reme,ber one afternoon. I reme,ber getting itno a fight with my younger brother and hurting him. Dad came out to inspect what was going on and caught me. Taking me by one arm to his room, I knew what was in hand- a hard smack.
    He sat down in a chair and would say, “Janet. Pull down your pants.” I never did so he would have to do it for me. He would then pull me onto his lap, my bottom facing his face. Then, he would spank a dozen or more times.

  10. Noi Avatar
    Noi

    Spanking is still world spread.
    I was spanked until the age of 13 for both mum and dad, and the spankings many times had sexual connotations.
    I think spanking can be as useful as harmful.
    Heinrich Pestalozzi said: “You can drive the devil out of your garden but you will find him again in the garden of your son.”
    Think about it.

  11. bla bla Avatar
    bla bla

    I think that the majority of “NON-SPANKERS” has no children and no idea of what it takes to parent a child. I would remind them that spanking does not damage a child if it is done in love and not in anger. I was spanked as a child and I grew up just fine. Sometimes I think I should have gotten it more often but that was then and this is now and neither the twain shall meet.

  12. Dustin Avatar
    Dustin

    I am age fifteen now. My dad used to beat me uncontrollably. He would use whatever he could to spank me with, and if he happened to miss my bottom he didn’t care. He would hit me anywhere possible. He would easily become enraged over anything and just hit and hit and hit and hit and hit until he was tired. He always lived by the philosophy “Spare the rod spoil the child.” He said that God says the only way to punish children is to spank them. He said that him beating me would get him into heaven, and for me to do the same for my kids. Well, spanking is supposed to teach a lesson and to get you to not misbehave again. All it did was make me feel worthless and hated. It made me feel as if I were not his son, but his livestock. His whipping post. It made me feel as if I were not human, but an animal. A mere beast that was inferior to him. It made me to where I’m at the age now to where I isolate myself from the outside world because I feel inferior to everyone and everything. I feel as if I am nothing to anybody. My father and his spankings did this to me. He stopped spanking me around age 9. That’s when his punishment methods escalated to full-fledged beatings. I would get slung around my room, knocked into walls, or even shoved outside and locked out. All these dirived from his concept that spanking and harsh punishment was accepted by God. I continued to simply take his beatings until I turned 15, that’s when I realized that I wasn’t his ragdoll. I wasn’t his toy to lash around and beat upon. So one day, merely a month from today, he got angry and proceded to sling me around the kitchen. I told him that if he touched me again I would have the police here to lock him up. He simply laughed and pushed me once more. I lost control and punched him in his left eye. He backed up, and I punched him once more in the face. I then got a small cutting board we had (about the size of a typical spanking paddle) and popped him as hard as I could on his back. He eventually fell down and I ran to call the police. He was locked up for three days for abuse and then released once more. Since then, me and him have gotten along. So, my conclusion is this. Spanking and beating is not an effective way to straighten out children, but an effective way to straighten out adults.

  13. Amishi Avatar
    Amishi

    I am SO sick of people demonizing spanking. I am especially sick of that crusader who caused these “spanking rods” to be taken off the market.

    There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with spanking when it is done in a controlled, and loving way.

    America has literally gone to hell in a handbasket, because spanking has been so condemned, and taken out of widespread use.

    Twenty, thirty, forty years ago, when corporal punishment was common in the homes and schools, kids were generally behaved, respectful, and successful.

    Then this liberal, permissive, get-away-with-anything approach to parenting started and look at society today.

    We have kids killing their parents, andshooting up their teachers and classmates. Kids are doing all kinds of drugs, getting pregnant, having multiple abortions, joining gangs, dealing drugs, dropping out of school, doing drive-by shootings not to mention all those out of control kids on talk shows, and God knows what else!

    I applaud this couple who created this “chastening rod” and I only wish they would bring it back on the market, and that more parents and schools would start using it. Maybe then this country has a shot of becoming a safe, productive place again!

    Bring back spanking and all its other forms of corporal punishment. It would do all these spoiled brats and the society that they wreak havoc on, a LOT of good!

  14. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    I am not against spanking but that plastic rod thing is ridiculous. A neighbor of mine had one of those, and she used it to whip her kids on the bare buttocks and genitals. It left welts, and I think it’s abuse.

  15. myself Avatar
    myself

    Wow, hard to believe how many people think you can lovingly hit a child….

  16. Monkey Avatar
    Monkey

    I ABSOLUTELY disagree spanking in a family, i come from Taiwan , Taiwan has a messy society now,illegal spanking anywhere..i dont know what could i say! so conclusion is if you spank your children , but they distrusted you more, spanking does’t work ,just one way to do,too BAD………

  17.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    To Amishi:

    Sweden, the rest of Scandinavia, Austria and many other nations have not become “Hell in a handbasket” socieities and they do not hit their children. Our country has a history of abuse and is shows up in the violent entertainment industry as well as our government policies. We are a warring nation and most nations who do go to war are nations that believe it is o.k. for adults to beat children. We could learn a lot from Scandinavia and their peaceful ways.
    The good ol’ days of America were not so good.
    People still committed crimes towards others it’s just that much of those crimes were done in the home. Don’t kid yourself. Violence towards children is the root of every kind of evil that adults committ. For a child, spanking is assault and battery: nothing less.

  18. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    I agree with people that are older… we obviously were spanked and we generally respected everyone. Kids need it and adults that think it is perverted are only ones who use it as a perversion. I was spanked as a child and always when i went to do something wrong i thought of that sharp belt coming down on me and would think twice before doing my bad thing… don’t make this out to be abuse… it’s not

  19. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    hey im 22 and im raising my 15 year old sister. our parents passed away when i was 17 and im her gardian. they used to spank us if we did something wrong and i didnt like it but i did learn my lesson and tried not to do whatever it was again.I’m just like my dad I do spank her if she deserves it but I will always tell her i love her after and we will have a long talk about whatever she did. I remember once we were shopping she was about 11 and she really wanted to get some new clothes but I said no not today and she started to have a fit. So I grabbed her arm and whispering in mher ear “you better stop or i’ll warm your bottom with my belt when we get home” but she kept doing it. well…as soon as we got home…I took her over my knee and just like I said I would warmed her bottom with my belt. But theres a big difference between disapline and abuse…I don’t abuse her i told her that if she kept that up she was gonna get a spanking and she kept doing it. She deserved it and she knew it too. Its not like I like doing it.. I hates it but it keeps her in line and undercontrol and she doesn’t hate me for it.Like i said we always talk about it after and she knows its cuz Ilove her that I do it cuz i want her to grow up with disapline.But I dont always do it…if shes asking for it or has done something that i sereverly disaprove of or disobeys me then yes she gets spanked…but i also ground her and take away computer tv and phone. Long story short spanking is not a bad thing if you truly love the person and your doing it for their own good.

  20. Jazzy Avatar
    Jazzy

    I spank my children heaps on the bare bottom. They don’t cry…. I spank them with my hand! Or sometimes a hairbrush. I always do it over my knee or sometimes over the bed. It’s my little bottom warming excerise! It’s a bit gay how people spank their children with a belt though. I totally agree with spanking though. Just not with a belt if that makes sense….

  21. Spank it! Avatar
    Spank it!

    I spank my child every night with my hand or hair brush. Over my knee is the main place. Sometimes I get them(4 children) over a bed or something. I am sort of like the old mother who lived in a shoe…But I fed my children properly. Not just broth! It’s very hard when you have four children. Sometimes you have to spank them to sleep. The rod is very effective! I have tryed it out and they were sent howling for me to stop. But I think spanking with a belt is bad and not nice. This creates bruising. I usally spank my childuntil their bottom is bright red. This is very important to do for me. Keep spanking those bottoms!

  22. Diana Avatar
    Diana

    Oh my god, I can’t believe how many poor little children I read here. So hurt and abused that they ended thinking that spanking is alright, and normal and that it didn’t make them “any bad”. It is so sad that the people from a country which declares around to be “the best country of the world” has such a retarded image of education. I truly pity them. I have 4 children, and I’ve never laid a hand on them! NEVER! And they are responsible children, good citizens and loving kids. Why? Because I

  23. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Dear Spank it,
    Fetish much? Every night? all four bottoms till they are red. I have a very strongwilled daughter. She was taught it was okay to disregard me by her abusive father. He doesn’t live here now, but his legacy does. I tried spanking but only in desperation. It did not work and made me feel like crap. My daughter, who fears nothing, would come right back at me and smack me. Now when she gets mad at me and smacks me, I say “don’t hit me that’s wrong.” If she hits me again I’ll say “go ahead keep hitting me, but look at you and look at me… if I decide to hit you back because I’m tired of you hitting me who do you think is gonna get hurt.” At this point she will stand there (seriously weighing the odds, she’s 6) then change the subject. She never admits defeat, so that’s as good as it gets. That child is going to run wall street some day, that or the mafia.

  24. cat Avatar
    cat

    i don.t think you should hit a child

  25. beth Avatar
    beth

    When I was a kid my dad tied me down to the bed and belted me 10 times a day.

  26. dondon Avatar
    dondon

    i`m not sure, there are so much opnions, if u take a look u`ll see that among 3 or 4 persons who think that spanking is o.k, there is only one person that dissagree with that,
    in my opnion, spanking may be useful but it should be the last way for punishing kids, some kids can obey their parents if they know that they wo`nt watch tv or play computer games. other are not, they don`t care if they are sent to their rooms or something like that, in this case spanking can do results , good one too.
    but we should take in consideration that there are some people who enjoy spanking their kids , for sexual desires , or something like that and u don`t know this type of people unless u communicate with them very well, we must protect kids from that kind of parent
    (if u like my opnion please contact me at:dondon_blue001@yahoo.com )

  27. nada Avatar
    nada

    when i was 10 years old , i had a puzzel game, and i loved it but i didn`t collect its part after i finish
    one day , to avoid my mum screaming , i through them out of the window, and my dad find out, and when he asked me i lied so he laied me on the be a spanked me on my bare bottom 20 smacks with abelt and : ouch!! 1,2,3,4… i cried and he said that he won`t stop till i thank him for letting me know that lieing is wrong! and i said itafter the 30 smack
    but that hurted alot

  28. bill Avatar
    bill

    spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking spanking

  29. David Avatar
    David

    I was spanked and I watched the news with all the wars and sick people hurting and killing each other. Nowadays Im against war and all violence. It is all counterproductive!!!!! Im sure most dictators were spanked, great lot of good that did!!!! NOT!!!!!!! As for my fellow followers of Jesus that think it is ok to hit…wake up and read the NEW Testament!!!!!!!!!! What would Jesus Do? I have also read that social anxiety and shyness in latter life are all created by humiliation and punishment that is cruel when a child!!!! Violence is wrong!!

  30. kamil Avatar
    kamil

    i feel that spanking is neccassry when done in a loving and gontrolled manner.

  31. April Avatar
    April

    I find it ridiculous that people have such a “rose coloured” view of the past. Rape, murder, theft, assault; all of these things are as old as mankind. When I hear people say that ‘back in the day’ every thing was peachy because children were spanked I cannot help but laugh. Perhaps the school shootings are a new phenomenon but please do not delude yourself that these isolated cases actually represent the majority of young people today. As for teenaged pregnancy, and all the drugs these kids are supposedly doing, what about the ‘free love’ movement and the rampant pot and (to a lesser degree) hard drug use (acid much?) that were associated with the sixties, when spanking was quite common? Perhaps you should take some time off from spanking your children to educate yourself about what it was really like in the ‘good old days.’

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