When all else fails, pain is a good teacher. It's amazing the number of people that have said some variation of, "When I was little, I kept biting/pinching people, and no amount of talking/time outs/grounding did anything. Mom only had to bite/pinch me back once and I never did it again." Why is hitting wrong? Because you don't want people to hit you. Sometimes, the best way to learn that is to experience it first hand.

@Jenny_Wren@xanga - My parents had a similar system, only, usually, whichever one was particularly pissed at us would have the other do it. If it was while Dad was at work, that sometimes meant, "go to your room until your father gets home". I'm not afraid of my parents. I respect them.

@rachmorgan01 - I mean you no offense, and I'm truly sorry you experienced that growing up.  It sounds horrifying.  But that is not spanking a child.  That is torture and abuse.  I hope you are doing well.  I can't imagine a child hood like that!

@TiredSoVeryTired@xanga - I know the difference between spanking and abuse. I was just trying to defend my thoughts on physical punishment and why I feel the way I do. In retrospect, I could have been more clear on what I was trying to say, but it was getting late, I was tired, and what I wanted to convey somewhat got lost. I am fine now. Things were not always violent at home. Most of the time it was a spank, grounding, time out, loss of privilages, etc. When things escalated, it was because my bad behavior continued and my father would lose control. I'm not justifying his actions at all, but I think I made things seem worse than they really were.

Go Delaware. I worked in child protective services for over a year, and I am glad a state is stepping up to include pain plain and simple in the definition of child abuse. The old definition pretty much said that it wasn't child abuse unless it left a mark on a child and was repeated action. I was never spanked as a child and will never hit my kids when and if I ever have them. 

The vast majority of these comments are wholly pathetic. 

Every child should have instilled within them the clear difference between right and wrong; what is acceptable behaviour, and what their parent will not permit them to do for their own good. But using any kind of hitting, swatting, spanking, slapping (not to mention anything beyond that) to "discipline" another human being -- especially one that you helped create, or gave birth to -- is honestly amongst the most vile, unproductive and deeply misguided thinking a person can have. You are not a fucking animal, and nothing excuses resorting to such petty gestures to "parent properly".

In case my stance on the issue isn't clear enough already: I, personally, would sooner die than ever land a hand on my child, regardless of the situation. 
It's on par with being a legitimate physical impossibility. If your child does something wrong, talk to them. Explain why it was wrong, and how they are to correct it. Grounding them or taking away a toy can be effective, but the main point is: talk to them. And then again. And then again. And then again. And then a-fucking-gain.
That, and nothing else, is how to discipline your child. No expections.

This new law as written is too open for
interpretation. It also infringes on religious beliefs for the hard
liners who believe the passage "Spare the rod, spoil the
child.". So according to this new law the government can now say
which verses in the bibles you can now believe in, that would suck.
Although this does not apply to me, I do see the implications. This law is stepping into the lives of alot of people, it should be rewritten becuase it allows children to say there is abuse just from a tap on the rear. All they would have to say is that it hurt or have a friend spank them with a belt to get their way at home by threating their parents. This law will make it easier for children to control their parents through threat and intimidation. Thier are kids out there already who use child abuse reporting to get their way by way of teachers, law enforcement and councilors. Kids say and do alot of things when they are mad at their parents that they may regret after doing it, but are affraid of the consequences for speaking up to the true after actions have been started.