Spare the rod, spoil the child means that if a parent refuses to discipline an unruly child then that child will grow accustomed to getting his/her way. In simple terms, the child will become a spoiled brat! Proverbs 13:24 says, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."
Many studies suggest that spanking children effect their cognitive development and make them aggressive as adults. If those studies are read carefully, they are flawed. The groups that were interviewed for the study were kids and were asked, "if they were effected by spankings?" Most replied with yes, but said it effected them in a negative way; but the word spanking was not defined clearly, so the kids may have misinterpreted the word spanking. They may have been beaten but without the clear definition, the kids were misled by the question.
Marjorie Gunnoe, a Psychologist at Calvin College, did a study eliminating the children who were beaten and only included the children that were spanked as a disciplinary tool for correction of a behavior when all other methods of punishment have been exhausted. She defined a spanking as a, "swat on the butt-ox with an open hand." Her findings were totally different and found that kids that were spanked between the ages of 2 and 11 had positive results and needed less punishment as adolescents.
We have the right as parents to discipline our children in a way that is effective. If a time out, discussion, and privilege revocation are ineffective then we should be allowed to effectively spank our children, with an open hand on the butt-ox, without being punished.
