{"id":22288,"date":"2010-03-22T19:25:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-23T00:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=22288"},"modified":"2026-07-12T16:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:24:27","slug":"im-not-certain-if-i-could-spank-a-child-im-watching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-certain-if-i-could-spank-a-child-im-watching\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m not certain if I could spank a child I’m watching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I’m a young Christian lady (27 years old) who watches an 11-year-old boy on a regular basis. His parents will go on a two-month trip and have asked me to move into their home and take care of him while they are gone. I will be happy to do so, but I have a question regarding discipline. His parents are strong Christians who believe in corporal correction. They asked me if I was willing to spank their son if necessary. I said yes, but now I’m not sure anymore. Although I believe in biblical discipline, I feel uncomfortable about having to administer it myself. I know the need for it might not arise at all, but if it does, I would feel obliged to respect the parent’s wishes and spank.<\/p>\n

Do you have any advice?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble<\/em>” (Matthew 6:34).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Assuming this isn’t another made-up situation, the likelihood of needing to spank is basically nil. The situation will be novel for the boy, and he will tend to be on good behavior. The knowledge that spanking could be a possibility will also keep him from extreme behavior.<\/p>\n

What isn’t generally understood is that when spanking is used effectively, it is rarely used. Perhaps a bit more when children are young and less verbal, but definitely fading out to almost never as the child grows up. Yes, there are nuts out there who think that spanking is the only solution to every problem, but that isn’t what the Scriptures teach (See:\u00a0Disciplining Children<\/a>). There are oddballs on the other end of the spectrum who think that any physical punishment is wrong.<\/p>\n

Handle each infraction with imagination and flexibility. Make any necessary punishment fit the crime. If you aren’t willing to hold the boy accountable for his actions in some manner, then someone else should be found to watch him.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I’m a young Christian lady (27 years old) who watches an 11-year-old boy on a regular basis. His parents will go on a two-month trip and have asked me to move into their home and take care of him while they are gone. I will be happy to do so, but I have a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[108],"class_list":["post-22288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-spanking"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-find-someone-to-spank-my-teenage-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":22288,"position":0},"title":"How do I find someone to spank my teenage son?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a question. I'm a single mother of a 16-year-old boy and I don't want to spank him, though he needs it and nothing else seems to work. Any recommendations or ideas of who I could reach out to who might be willing to mentor him? Because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-spank-my-10-month-old\/","url_meta":{"origin":22288,"position":1},"title":"Can I spank my 10-month-old?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can I spank my 10-month-old? Answer: Discipline starts as soon as a child starts to reach for things he should not touch. A firm but calm \"No\" followed by a flick on the back of the hand is usually enough to discourage a child. The key is consistency. You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9257,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-spank-my-three-boys\/","url_meta":{"origin":22288,"position":2},"title":"How do I spank my three boys?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have just been awarded custody of my three sons as my wife has now moved abroad with another man. My wife and I have been separated for years and she never taught the lads any discipline at all. Now they are out of control which is a great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1854,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-husband-have-the-right-to-spank-his-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":22288,"position":3},"title":"Does a husband have the right to spank his wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does a husband have the right to spank his wife? Answer: Spanking is a form of discipline used by parents to correct their children, such as \"He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly\" (Proverbs 13:24). The rod is a reference\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-parent-spank-a-teenage-athlete\/","url_meta":{"origin":22288,"position":4},"title":"How can a parent spank a teenage athlete?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have read some of the responses to Christian parents questions on spanking their children and teenagers. Many of my friends have trouble with their teenagers and often think of using it. The thing is what would a parent do with a teenager who is athletic, a soccer player,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1941,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-teachers-spank-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":22288,"position":5},"title":"Should teachers spank children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I really think that discipline is necessary sometimes. I remember that even teachers used to spank. Do you think it is still a good system of discipline for today? Answer: \"Is there anything of which it may be said, \"See, this is new\"? It has already been in ancient\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96632,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22288\/revisions\/96632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}