Sarah’s Spanking Project

Sarah at Who I Am Without You is doing a project on spanking.

This week I got a bright idea. I want to compile a collection of stories from victims of spanking. I want young parents to be able to see the issue from words that could someday belong to their child. People who want to participate can write a short post, about 100-300 words in regards to the issue of spanking, and I will post them one at a time into an album on my blog.

She offers a number of different formats:

You can write your post in a number of different formats.

1.)   Letter to your parents: Write a letter to your parents. Tell them how their choice to spank you has harmed you. Tell them about how it affected you then, and how it continues to affect you now. (Feel free to include any information on alternatives to spanking that you have found effective.)

2.)   Letter to young parents: Write a cautionary letter to young parents. Tell them why and how the practice of spanking affected (and continues to affect) you. (Feel free to include any information on alternatives to spanking that you have found effective.)

3.)   Letter to young parents (2): Write a letter explaining why you as a parent chose to stop spanking your children. Include your experiences and the factors that most made you change your mind. (Feel free to include any information on alternatives to spanking that you have found effective.)

4.)   Informational piece: Write a few paragraphs on why you believe spanking is damaging for children. Include any personal experience, or just some facts that made you come to your conclusion. (Feel free to include any information on alternatives to spanking that you have found effective.)

5.)   Creative: If you find it hard to express yourself with just words, please feel free to submit a more unique commentary. I will accept drawings, photos, videos, art work or poetry to this project as well. (Feel free to include any information on alternatives to spanking that you have found effective.)

I’d encourage anyone this applies to to write up something and send it to Sarah, because she wants as many responses as possible. I’m really glad Sarah is doing this project, and when she’s finished I plan to provide a link to her project in my section on Michael and Debi Pearl and authoritarian parenting.