I believe that parents do the best they can. I believe that parents who spank, hit, slap, or threaten their children are parents with good intentions using harmful tools. I don’t believe that most parents who utilize physical punishment consciously inflict abuse on their children. Quite the opposite, I know that many of these parents will fiercely defend their love for their children and believe that punitive strategies serve their kids long term.

If this is you, I believe that you love your children. And I know that threatening or inflicting pain, physical or psychological on your child is not serving them. And I know that it’s abuse.

I completely understand that punishment is a quick solution that seems to “work” for you and it seemed to “work” for your parents.

But we cannot punish our children into being good people. Children do well when they can because children are inherently good. Punishing them will probably make them feel bad about themselves and their mistakes and force them to obey you, but it will not teach them skills, it will not teach accountability and responsibility, it will not solve problems long term, and it will not build a trusting, safe relationship between you and your child. #parenting #parents #parentingtips #parenting101 #discipline #punishment #physicalpunishment #corporalpunishment #kids #childrendeservebetter #parentcoach #crisismom #parentingcoach #taylorswift #preventchildabuse #respectfulparenting #attunedparenting #responsiveparenting #kidsdowelliftheycan #parentsdowelliftheycan #cyclebreakers #cyclebreakers