When does punishing physically become abuse (on a kid)?

When your defense of physically hurting a child sounds like the slave masters’ rationales for how they treated the human beings they owned … game, set, and match for positive parenting.

Slaveholder rationales for slavery:

1. If you’re a slave, you’re not considered a full human being. For the more “generous” slavery defenders, you might be considered a limited sort of being needing supervision and instruction from your master.
2. Beatings are administered to teach slaves obedience to their masters. This is considered the natural order of things. Talking back, questioning your abuse, defying orders — all are considered reasons to make the abuse even more harsh.
3. Beatings are a way of civilizing savages.

Parent rationales for authoritarian, physical punishment of children:

1. If you’re a child, you’re not considered a full human being. For the more “generous” spanking defenders, you might be considered a limited sort of being needing supervision and instruction from your parents.
2. Spankings are administered to teach children obedience to their parents. This is considered the natural order of things. Talking back, questioning your spanking, defying orders — all are considered reasons to make the spanking even more painful or prolonged.
3. Spankings are a way of turning children into “responsible” adults.

Nothing to see here. Nothing at all.     : – /