Noah Berman
Dwayne Stamper Sr., the father of five kids in Muncie, Indiana, put up a Facebook post last week that got him a lot of attention. In the post, Stamper offers “Free Ass Whoopins” to parents of misbehaving kids. The post included a picture of Stamper sitting by his handmade “Free Ass Whoopins” sign, with a paddle at the ready, and the caption: “Parents, your kids need a whoopin? Summer can’t end fast enough? Stop by, I’m set up! No kids over 13…. They may whoop me.”
Stamper’s pro-spanking (pro-paddling!) post went viral, but not necessarily in an all-positive way. Many people agreed with Stamper’s methods, but a lot of people made anti-corporal punishment comments, with one person calling Stamper “a prime example of what’s wrong in the USA.”
Speaking to Yahoo, Stamper said he came up with the idea for his offer after seeing a kid about 5 years old who “wouldn’t stop crying because he couldn’t have a piece of gum.” Stamper asked the boy’s mom if she wanted him to take care of the situation (okay, sorry, but that’s just weird) but that she and the boy’s grandmother said the boy was “spoiled” and that Stamper’s intervention wouldn’t work.
Stamper said, “A few minutes later, the boy was still crying and I told his mother, ‘Lady if you bust that a**, he will be quiet. I got whoopings when I was growing up and I learned how to be quiet.’”
On Facebook, Stamper wrote, in part,
I had to put my 2 cents in and tell them a good crack on the ass with a belt will fix the problem trust me! My parents never let me cry in a store and especially if I was crying because I didn’t get something I wanted! Parents if you let your child act this way, you’re the problem with our snowflake society today! You don’t have to beat your child but you do have to show them others in this world don’t wanna hear their crybaby little ass!
The comments on Stamper’s post varied. Some were strongly against his methods.
Others, however, supported him.
But spanking is just hitting with hands — it’s important to note that Stamper is actually advocating whipping with a belt.
Stamper made sure to emphasize the fact that he only spanked his kids when they were under 13. He told Yahoo, “Kids who haven’t had a whooping by the age of 13 can’t be changed by a paddle — they have no fear.” He was also quick to point out that, in his opinion, spanking doesn’t count as child abuse but hitting them anywhere else besides the butt does.
A lot of parents agree with Stamper’s methods, but the actual empirical evidence doesn’t back him up.
In a 2014 HuffPost blog, Elizabeth Gershoff, a professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas, wrote:
Research clearly shows that spanking is ineffective at teaching children how to behave appropriately in the future. In fact, spanking actually increases children’s disobedience, problem behavior and aggression.
It also increases their likelihood of developing mental health problems such as depression or anxiety.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also cautions against corporal punishment, making the case that spanking and other physical punishments teach children aggressive behavior.
But Stamper claims that’s not the case with him. In an email to HuffPost, he wrote, “I’ve argued this the last few days. If I spanked my kids for their behavior … They sure listened even better! It worked for me, it worked for my parents, it worked for my grandparents. I knew if I got in trouble in school when I got home I would get a whoopin. As a kid I didn’t want a whoopin so I behaved.”
In his opinion, most of the people who don’t share his view don’t have kids.