Have you ever been ...

[Tender Branson]

No, only shouted against.

I just read an article in which 50% of Austrian parents still favor slapping their children to "educate" them. About 15% of those say that they even hit their children hard.

In the UK the numbers are about the same.

What about you ?

[dead0man]

I was spanked.  Sometimes hard.  Occasionally with a wire fly swatter (the "wrong" end).  And was slapped at least once for sassing my mom when I was like 13.  I'm old enough to have gotten spanked at public school too.

[Napoleon]

No (normal)

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Lightly spanked? Sure. I'll probably do it to my kids, too.

[Miles]

My dad would usually just throw stuff (like books or chairs) if he got mad at me; most of the time it was because I was behind on a school project or didn't do my homework.

I usually didn't get hurt in the process, but seeing my 6' 2" dad overturn a table or throw a chair could be pretty intimidating.

[Franzl]

No (normal)

[Lambsbread]

option 2

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

No (normal)

Clearly not.

As for me, I got spanked a couple times.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

No (normal)

[AndrewTX]

Of course I got hit and slapped.. that was cool back in the 80s. I also got hit by my teacher, of course Catholic schools played by their own rules.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Option 1, of course.  It was a different day back then

[Simfan34]

Never a proper caning, but a sandal, a pinch, a belt at times. Instills a healthy fear of your elders. But my brother seems impervious to it, he'll just sit there smirking while being hit with a sandal.

[Hatman 🍁]

Do "free spanks" count?

[ZuWo]

Option 2. I'm of the opinion that a slap in the face (not too hard, obviously) is appropriate in particular situations. I certainly deserved every single slap I got. Not that there were more than a handful in my entire childhood, though.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Slapped? No.

[Franknburger]

Not sure what to answer. I got slapped once by my mother, when she was in emotional stress, but that was the only time that has ever happened. My father never used his hand, but tried reasoning insteaad.

As a parent myself, I have never slapped my kids (the oldest is turning eighteen this month). I was tempted once when my son in rage threw a cup of hot coffee at me, but decided to answer with shouting at him.

My experience as a parent has been that when you try to listen to your kids, they are open to rational arguments and accept guidance and orders, even though they might dislike them. My sister's approach, "If you can't convince them, confuse them", has also proven helpful from time to time.

[opebo]

Haha, no, of course not.  Or rather, I don't remember it.  I don't count being 'paddled', as this was a hilarious drawn out ceremony which held no terror - basically my mother was always quite angry and yelled quite a bit, but never really hit anybody as I remember.. she would get upset and say 'when you father gets home I will have him paddle you!' - she never did it herself.  However, my father was someone I don't recall ever really showing anger.. I think he did get angry with me once or twice in all the time I knew him, but he just swallowed it up and walked away (his usually practice with my mother, with whom he was angry more frequently).  I don't actually recall ever having the threat of paddling carried out.. I think it may have been, but it was so anticlimactic that it wasn't so bad.

The funny part of the story was they had a special paddle, with holes in it, designed for maximum pain, which as I say was never used, but on the day I broke my arm, this was the item they chose to splint it with, so when the Jewish doctor unraveled their makeshift brace, we all wondered if he was a bit shocked.

It looked a little like this:

[Torie]

My mother slapped me once (not appropriate), and my dad strapped me with a belt about 3 times (deserved, and as Grumps noted, it was a different era).  I would characterize none as being "hit badly," but the slap has a personal humiliating quality that I think is beyond the pale myself.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

My mom spanked me a few times.  She would pull my pants down and hit me with her hand.  But it was rare that I was ever spanked.  I remember one occasion, however, when I pulled down my pants in school (I was about ten), and when she found out about it when coming to pick me up, she spanked me when I got home.

[Adam Griffin]

It's the South. There's still a county - across the state line - that uses corporal punishment K-12. The principal does the paddling.