How wrong is slapping a child across the face, if wrong at all?

To me there's a distinction between spanking a child and slapping them across the face. Spanking, while not a parenting style I agree with, I wouldn't consider abusive, but slapping and anything beyond, I would. Punishing a child is meant to teach them they did something wrong, not as an outlet for parental anger. Aside from being too rough on a child, it also harms the parent's authority, because showing the punishment as an emotional reaction not a logical one allows the child to think of it as unreasonable which means they will resent it not learn from it (aside from learning it's ok to slap people when they piss you off. Not a good lesson). In my opinion slapping a child is far too rough, unfairly humiliating and ineffective.

Though I don't judge people who spank (assuming they are reasonable and never take it anywhere near as far as slapping) I wouldn't spank a child. My experience has been that if you raise a child properly you don't need to. They should behave because you've taught them why, not to avoid a smack. I believe a child who learned to behave to avoid smacks will be less likely to behave once they're either old enough to know they can't be spanked, or in a situation where they wont be (like being babysat or at school where they know they cannot be spanked), while a child who has been taught the reasons to behave will still have that knowledge with them when they grow or leave the house.The best behaved kids I know are the ones whose parents sit them down when they're naughty, tell them why what they did was wrong (and if they're still being bad or wont listen punish them, by either removing a privilege or making them take a time out till they do, subsequently using privilege removal and time outs to reinforce if the child repeats an action they have already been warned against), and get the child to say they understand and apologise, . They learn to be good without needing the threat of spanking, which I find more fair and effective.

Personally I feel that, you should 'spank' the childs bottom. Not hurt them. Just enough to let them know that what you did was wrong. But I also like the 'nose in the conner' punishment. I feel that what type of punishment you use should depend on the child's action and if he/she will stay in the corner now if he/she will not then i dont see whats wrong with a little spank on the butt.

I don't think slapping a child across the face is ever right! There are better ways to help them learn a lesson.

I THINK IT IS VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY WRONG TO SLAP A CHILD IN THE FACE!

Parents should NEVER under any situations hit a child. That's all. There's no need to discuss it at all, hitting children is something really bad. Even though I wanted to slap some children when I worked at an after school, I eventually realized that I didn't want to slap the children, but their parents. The chridren says a lot about how the parents have raised them, so parents should blame themselves, not their children.

Theres a difference between beating a child and spanking them. Spanking them when they do something wrong is not wrong. Some people think it is but I see no problem with it. Thats not child abuse. There is a difference though between hitting them and beating them till they have bruises.

I think spanking is a necessary part for a healthy growing up experience. Children may not appreciate it, but it helps them to know their limitations in life. To a child, a parent represents the highest level of authority and knowledge, and if such doesn't stop him from doing whatever he wants, he'll grow up with the idea that NO ONE can tell him how to behave. I think spanking is a very good thing as long as you don't go into beating with violence and anger. I was spanked as a child, I'm 14 now. On the other hand, I know A LOT of kids who have never been spanked, and they came out to be total brats.

Spanking=discipline. Without discipline, you never learn right from wrong. You can't say that if your mother told you, something was wrong, that you just remembered it and didn't do it again. I listened to my mother and father when I was a small child, because I didn't want to be spanked, so I didn't do what I learned was wrong. It's an effective parenting method. My mother spanked me, her mother spanked her, and so on. Spanking has been generally excepted for generations, so I don't see why it should change. As for slapping across the face, the same went for me. If I or my brother speak disrespectfully now (I'm 13), we get smacked, because we're too old for spanking. However, I (and anyone else in my family) am completely open to any parenting methods anyone else uses, because that's the fair thing.

To me there is a very fine line between punishing your child and beating your child and that line isn't straight or solid. For example, if my two year old cousin says "damn", no, he shouldn't be slapped across the face. But when my sixteen year old sister told my mother - to her face - that she hoped she was killed violently and burned in hell because my mother wouldn't let her stay at a hotel in Columbus with her boyfriend, yes. She deserved (and needed) to be smacked.

I guess it depends on the circumstances. How old the child is, how hard the smack it, what the child had done and what caused the "issue" with the child. I was spanked as a child and I cannot think of a time where it wasn't justified (like when I stole a shirt from a store).

I'd have to say in my opinion that spanking is wrong. It can't be determined whether it's actually abusive or not, because it depends on what kind of person the child is. Would the child deal well emotionally with the spanking? There's something you always have to ask yourself before you think spanking is effective:

The next time the child reacts with the same behavior, will he stop because he knows what he is doing is wrong and doesn't want to be punished harshly again? Or will he stop because he is actually AFRAID of you and what your reaction might be?

Be careful: There are some children out there who respond in fear to any violence of any kind.

Like I said, it depends on the personality of the kid.

Well, the question you ask yourself is: What has the child done? Does the child deserve to be slapped?
You may not know it but usually, slapping children traumatizes them and makes them avoid any attention, they grow shy and never share secrets. The child won't be the same child as before and you'll notice the difference. I know, children can be really tough, As a mother of two children really test your nerves but I never hit my children, I ground them, take toys away, the usual. I'm not saying you should do the same but always ask yourself a few questions before you slap a child.

i WAS SPANKED AS A CHILD Y BOTH MY MOM AND DAD IN THE OVER THE LAP POSITION WITH ONLY THEIR HANDS. THERE WAS ONE TIME THAT i WAS MISBEHAVING AND MY MOM SLAPPED ME ACROSS THE FACE. tHAT QUICKLY CHANGED MY BEHAVIOR AROUND. SHE ONLY HAD TO GIVE ME ONE SLAP ACROSS THE FACE. INSTEAD OF SEVERAL SLAPS ON THE BOTTOM. THE STING IS THE SAME AS THE STING ON THE BOTTOM. THERE WERE NO MARKS LEFT BUT THERE WAS REDNESS FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR. I FELT ALL MY SPANKINGS AND THE ONE TIME I GOT SLAPPED ACROSS THE FACE WAS WELL DESERVED AND I LEARNED MY LESSON FROM EACH PUNISHMENT.

Groundings and "adult conversations" don't work anymore.Sometimes a child needs to be disciplined quickly.I think people are overreacting when they say how evil spanking is.