Discipline at home is important and kids need to have rules to follow otherwise they do not ever learn respect. Punishment should be stuck with and both parents should be on board with following through or kids will see their weakness and know that there is no consequence for their actions which will lead to other things one day.
I think a punishment should be extreme enough to fit the crime and severity should not include beating or locking them away. A simple smack or removing their favourite thing is a good idea, what do you think?

I am 100% for smacking. Smacking worked on me, I stayed in line not because it hurt but the emotional impact of knowing I'd done wrong....but also a little cause I don't like pain!

Ultimately it's the follow through and the constant pulling up. The second they're disrespectful tell them off, why they're in trouble, and send them to their room or take something off them for x time. My mum used to do "age in minutes" except for me because I was 19 so I had an hour instead of 19 minutes lol. I guess I should have known better if I did wrong though .

I also got smacks and it did both me and my brother good as we knew when the wooden spoon came out that we were naughty and had to say sorry very quickly or we would get a hiding. Kids today don't feel the consequence and sending them to the room is actually a pleasure because they have so much to do there.

Well I had tonnes to do there too but being smacked and sent there was a punishment and I rarely enjoyed playing with my toys afterwards. In fact I would avoid my favourites, even when I had a nintendo or PC in my room because if they burst in and saw me playing I was terrified I'd lose it LOL.

So it comes down to conscience, and to respect...and it's hard to teach those.

I was never spanked or hurt physically as a growing child. My dad always emphasized how lucky we were that he and my mom weren't the type of parents to use physical punishment such as spanking, or even shouting. However, other indirect things hurt me: seeing my mom drunk and stumbling around the house then hearing her vomit in the bathroom have hurt me in a different way.

Anyway, the problem is that parents treat their children, literally as children. I don't believe in enforcing discipline through rules or punishments, but through treating the kids the same way as you would other people. Children may have certain limitations to their thinking due to lack of experience. This has numerous psychological bases. However, I think it is a parent's responsibility (After all, it was their choices and their actions that led to having kids.) to have the patience to teach their children and explain things and boundaries in a mature, humane manner without resorting to disciplinary actions and enforcing irrational restrictions that would otherwise cause kids to rebel.

I think a perfect punishment should be similar to jail. Like for a month have the child grounded . Can't go anywhere besides school and home . And take everything out his/her room and leave nothing but a bed and maybe books. And bed time should be set earlier . And take away the privilege of them picking their own clothes out because in jail they aren't allowed .

LOL Raina you're so funny .

If you do that they'll hate you and go crazy LOL. You have to make the punishment fit the crime, and in some cases that's perfect...but kids and especially teenagers are practically hard wired to make stupid decisions and get into trouble lol.

Personally, I've always thought that the best form of punishment is simply to revoke privileges for a while. If the kid loves playing video games, take away their gaming equipment for a week, things like that. It always worked on me when I was growing up after all, and look how well I turned out.

That said though, I really don't think that physically striking a child is a good way to discipline them. The times that my parents punished me in such a manner I only cried and rebelled more afterwards. It was not an effective way to correct bad behavior in me. On top of that I have a bad experience with losing my best friend as a child due to child abuse. She was taken from her parents in her early teens after suffering abuse at her parent's hands for years. And, no; it didn't work with fixing the 'issues' they believed she had, either. Like with me, it only made her want to rebel more in order to 'punish' them in turn.

All you need to do is take the power cord or the controller

I had a best friend who was beaten as well, with a belt, shoes, anything and everything. Her dad hit her relentlessly with a belt in front of the whole school and no one did anything. I managed to pull her away from him and run with her but she was bloody all over. NO ONE reported it. No one told the police what happened when asked. She was stuck there and I couldn't help because I was maybe 10 or 11.

Anyway I do believe in spanking. I just don't believe in spanking for everything. There HAS to be a scale to keep the kid in line, if you spank for everything they won't be afraid of getting in trouble they will be afraid of getting caught and yes sometimes act out more (because they aren't stupid and know that's not right as well). I've only ever used it as a last resort and same with my parents. It shouldn't be a go-to punishment.