Should you spank your child? Local experts weigh in
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Most parents seem to take a strong stance on the issue of how to discipline their child. “There’s a thin line there between abuse and discipline,” Detective Andrew Whitehead with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said. In December, a father in Florida wanted to discipline his 12-year-old daughter with a paddle. The father called deputies to supervise the spanking because he was worried he would be accused of abuse. Whitehead said it is a type of call he would respond to. “If they were concerned about what they were doing and wanted some guidance, sure I would,” he said. “The first line of my job is public servant. I mean, that’s part of serving the public.” Henderson County investigator David Dowdy said it does not send the right message to a child. “If they associate us with being spanked or disciplined, then I’m afraid that if a child ever needed help from us they would be afraid to approach us,” Dowdy said. Both investigators agree the Florida father’s call was a result of changing views of child discipline. “Child abuse is a problem,” Whitehead said. “It’s a growing issue in our society today, and more people are looking for things and more people aren’t afraid to call the police.” “I’ve worked on numerous abuse cases that started as discipline through spanking,” Thomas Mitchell with the Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse said. Mitchell said spanking can lead to bigger problems. “Discipline is about learning,” Mitchell said. “It’s about learning a new change or relatively permanent change in behavior, and disciplining through spanking can be effective at changing the behavior, but is it effective at changing the behavior? But is it effective at learning? I don’t know.” He said the center encourages talking about the problem and use of non-physical methods such as time-outs. Detective Whitehead, a father of six, said he uses the palm of his hand to spank his kids — his right within the law. He says it is a softer approach than his parents took with him. “It was with a fly swatter or a belt, and it didn’t hurt me a bit,” he said. “I like to think now if I didn’t get those whoopings I might be on the other side of the bars.” Investigator Dowdy said he prefers to discipline his children by taking privileges away. “I think everybody better look at it and determine what’s best for them,” he said. “Some kids it will work better with, some kids other things work better.” Both investigators work with The Carl Perkins Center in cases where it is unclear if a child was abused or not. They consider whether items were used to spank, where on the body the child was struck and how hard. Then it is up to the district attorney to decide if there is enough evidence to file charges. If you suspect a child is being abused, call the Department of Children’s Services or your local police department. All experts we spoke with for this story agree it never hurts to double check.
