Should I Spank?

No, it's embarrsing for the kid, just tell them that they have done something wrong and shouldnt do it again

Sometimes a spanking is necessary and other times it's uncalled for. It's up to you to decide which situation is which.
Like the other posts here I agree when they say spanking is a very bad experience. But that's exactly what it's supposed to be otherwise it wouldn't work! Spanking properly is a hard thing to do, both controlling your anger or making yourself give them a proper hiding when it would be so much easier to stop early and end the whole ordeal before you've dealt with it thoroughly.    No-one wants to make their children cry, but sometimes it's necessary. Just like the pain of an injection is necessary to protect kids from disease, so to is the pain of a spanking necessary to protect children from growing up to be bad people.

I think many people simply opt to take the easy way out of properly disciplining their children then justify it with all this spanking is abuse nonsense because they are more concerned about their own short term distress over a crying child than they are about their kids future.
The fact is that most children will need a good hiding at one time or another, and we as parents need to grit our teeth and give it to them. No matter how bad it seems at the time, not spanking when a spanking is called for will be a hundred times worse in the long run.

No, there are other ways of dealing with problems. Spanking will sometimes just reinforce bad behaviour. A time out, then softly, speak to them and explain how it is wrong. Nothing more horrible than seeing a mom spank a child in public. As well, they learn to do the same when they are disatisfied as in hitting etc.

If
necessary, yes you should do it. You have a responsibility and if you love your children you should take it serious. Spanking is a powerful method and helps your children to improve, not to feel guilty any longer for what they have done because the get forgiveness by spanking and finally they will grow.

I am a board certified Internist, and have spoken in detail with my Board Certified Pediatricians, Pediatric Psychiatrists, and Pediatric Neurologists. They are ALL of the exact same stance, which has been published as the official stance of the American Academy of Pediatrics: IT IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG TO EVER HIT YOUR CHILD, EVER. There are no "well sometimes if it is just with my hand..." or "well my old 65 year old retiring pediatrician says it is OK with a wooden spoon" and on and on. It has now become thought of in the same degree by all of civilized public, for good reasons (see below) that there is absolutely NO positive benefits achieved by violence to ANY degree against yours or someone else's child. I cannot be more emphatic. There is a reason it is now ILLEGAL in Sweden and many other more educated countries to EVER hit a child, EVER, just as it is illegal for a man to hit a woman. Research study after research study has shown that hitting your child and physically assaulting your child (don't try to excuse it by saying "spanking" or "corporal punishment". It is physical abuse and is assault and battery) teaches a child that violence is the best way to solve problems, as long as they are bigger they can do what they want by hitting a smaller person, the children are NO better behaved, in fact, they are MUCH WORSE behaved when they have been hit (countless countless studies with direct films on the web... Watch them), they turn out to have LOWER IQ's (so yes, you are handicapping your kid by hitting him/her), they have lower self esteem, and the ONE place that they should be safe and loved no matter what is in YOUR arms -- you have now showed them that they cannot feel safe around you. There is a reason that we have all gone away from hitting our children, and it is not because we want to just spoil our kids or don't want to "do what is necessary". It is because we as a population have EVOLVED. Look at some of the abuse done in the 18th and 19th centuries in the schools and you can see how far we have come. Thank GOD we have. The Old Testament quote has been taken so to heart by out of control parents who themselves cannot get their own anger and frustration under control to use positive reinforcement when it is needed and to withhold positive reinforcement when necessary... That we have kept ourselves blind. As an Internist, if I see ANYONE hitting their kid ANYWHERE in public, that means slapping anywhere, spanking a butt, it doesn't matter... I report them to both the POLICE and to CPS if I feel that after a gentle word and just the mention that their actions in public have not gone unseen... We are ALL responsible, people... If they are even screaming at the kid, it is a sign that something is very wrong, and they need help. Their children cannot speak for themselves, I must as a mandated reporter speak FOR them. If I don't know their names, I call the police. If I do know their names, I call CPS. I have called CPS on many of my patients' family members and even on my patients. I cannot overstate it. It is absolutely wrong to strike another human being. Absolutely. It is even MORE wrong to hit a child, even more than another adult. Would you be OK with hearing someone say "hey, my girl got out of line last night so I just had to slap her on her butt to make her listen to me. You gotta keep them under control, or they will be spoiled" NO???? Well how can you say it about physical assault of a CHILD??? Teach them tolerance, patience, and love. Praise the good, ignore the bad, as long as you can. Remove them from a situation in which they are out of control... Call SuperNanny... Who gets absolute behavior and never raises a hand in violence... But NEVER EVER EVER HIT YOUR KIDS!