The initiation of violence toward a child is inherently fucked.
Becoming a parent doesn’t bestow upon you superhuman rights any more than the title of “law enforcement officer” does. Spanking a child = using violence against a child. Let’s call it what it is: it’s an abuse of power and a reflection of a parent’s failure to see him/herself as a guardian rather than an owner/slave master of the child.
As @onetree put it, lead by example. “I don’t like what you are doing, so I’m going to hit you” is not acceptable in an adult-adult disagreement or a child-child disagreement (in fact, many children get spanked for having that exact reaction when in a disagreement with one of their peers), but somehow it’s okay for an adult to react that way to a child?
If human beings morally do not have the right to own, control, and dominate another human being, how is it not immoral for a parent to assume those rights over their children?
Thanks for this post @larkenrose