[...] *Edit* Kate Gosselin has issued a statement, read it here. [...]

Her “composed demeanor may just be a facade”? What composed demeanor? Have we been watching the same show?

Oh, I just love it when people use the word “discipline” when they are too shy to say “beat the minors in my care”.

By all means, hit your kids, Mrs. Gosselin, if you believe that it will teach them valuable lessons on how human beings are supposed to behave in the world (I’m guessing you intended to teach Leah that if people don’t do what you want them to do just hit them and humiliate them in front of strangers and they’ll soon fall in line). Just don’t get discipline and punishment confused.

I blogged about the spanking heard ’round the world here: http://mamapundit.com/2009/06/dont-make-me-go-all-gosselin-on-you/

Basically, I find it appalling that our culture still accepts this behavior toward children, when we would be appalled if Kate Gosselin were photographed hitting an elderly person, a dissabled person, or even a dog – any other class of dependent, defenseless creature besides a child.

-Katie

I see no problems in spanking a child or giving them a tap on the hand. I agree that is not abuse. Abuse is hitting a kid with an object such as a belt or extension cord or a shoe. She is using her own hands, and i doubt she is going to bruise her child by tapping her butt. Kids used to get their hands smacked at school back in the day. Maybe kids were more in line back then when people actually weren’t embarassed to discipline there child appropriately. People are so dramatic when it comes to these things becuase they think because they don’t hit their kids your a good parent.

huh? her underwear are showing? So what?
Parent your own kids, weirdos.

@ Hamilton Doula, katie allison granju- Totally agree!
Discipline comes from the word Disciple- to teach. Hitting, swatting, spanking or whatever else people like to call it TEACHES what?
I’ve heard people say, ‘my parents hit me & I turned out just fine’- REALLY? So it fostered a meaningful connection between the spanker and yourself, brought you two closer?? You remember being spanked- do you remember what the ‘lessons’ were? Why you were hit?
@ what?- So the ONLY reason your kids behave is because they don’t want you to hit them? What motivation will they have to behave when you’re not there? If people didn’t have to ‘justify’ the way they parent- we wouldn’t need cps because no one would give a flying F, if or how you hurt your children…
…I have spanked my son before- I can remember the first time I slapped his little hand & the last time I swatted his bottom. The look on the child’s face is enough to never want to hurt him in any way for any amount of time- There just isn’t any reason good enough for it. There are better solutions to remedy behavior problems, I don’t always have them but they’re out there so keep on looking. We have to evolve people- Yea physical punishment has been used forever- so the F what!

Are you serious? Wow. Im so disgusted with the media. People actually think spanking your child is child abuse? Come on now! Have we just ran out of things to publish because this is rediculous. As for kate being rude who gives a f*** shes raising 8 kids thats 8 times more kids than 1 idiots. Get over it Leahs fine now and of course shes going to cry after she gets spanked. Im sure you did too!!! Parents that dont spank there kids are the worst kind of parents. Kate gosslin didnt go to College to learn how to be a mom. So fuck off you idiots spanking is a part of history and a part of life. If your kid does something to disobey you, smacking there hand isnt going to stop them. GOOD JOB KATE!!!!!!

Oh… you americans are ridiculous! spanking children is not abuse! my god… i grew up in an asian home where spankings were frequent! if my parents had given me timeouts, i would have laughed in their faces. i would have gladly go to my room and stayed there till dinner time. anything to get away from screaming parents. kate was right in stating that. unless spanking has become illegal, then we have no right in criticizing her way of discipline.

wow that is just so mean i am a preschool teacher and a mother of 2 and i have seen that happen before but you shouldn’t dicapline them like that i watch thier show and do a very good job as parents but please don’t hit your chidren .

I used to think spanking was okay–that a good swat on the butt bruised their ego more than anything and got their attention, but after having raised 2 children, I learned better approaches to teaching a child to accept responsibility for their actions. I learned that hitting only teaches a child that this is an acceptable means of communication. I wouldn’t want my daughter to grow up thinking that if she were to get hit by a boyfriend for making him mad that this is ok. I wouldn’t want my kids to think it’s ok for them to strike out either. I consulted with the kids principle for guidance on how to deal with kids that push your patience beyond the limits. Her advice was the best ever given. Don’t punish in times of anger. Take time to cool down and then to think about what punishment would be most appropriate. Do it on your terms, not theirs. My son hated when I said we would discuss this later. He just wanted to get it over with so he could continue with whatever he was doing. When I took control back, he knew he wasn’t going to like the outcome. I usually found chores that were challenging for that disruptive, excessive, behavior. One time he was mad at me and knocked over a little stone wall I had been building along the driveway. I felt that it would have been too dificult for a kid to redo, so I did it myself and wound up cutting my hand in the process. He asked why was I bleeding and I explained to him that because I had to rebuild this project, I was hurt. He truly felt bad; it never happened again. Do you think the same results would have been obtained by grabbing him and hitting? His worst punishment was mowing the acre field in front of the house. My daughter’s worst punishment was stall duty in the morning when she wanted to sleep in. My kids discuss the lessons learned and could even laugh about it.

Okay, so she spanked her child for disrespecting her request. These are her children and she has to live with them long after all of you nay-sayers have forgotten who she is. If discipline is given with no loss of love or abuse, so may it be. Kate and all of the other mothers who have no privacy are human first and celebrity second. Those children are extremely well behaved for there being so many the same age at the same time. I would like to see another household with eight kids have the manners and sense of respect that the Gosselin Children have. Swatting a bum is not abuse unless it is taken too far and no where does it mention that Kate overdid it, does it? I raised two kids and was a state licensed daycare provider for 10-years. I’ve seen what controlled discipline, uncontrolled discipline, and a total lack of discipline can do to children. It is all in the way it is administered. You say to-may-oe, I say To-mah- toe!

All of you should shut up!!! Don’t you have your own lifes to live? Or are your lifes so bad you would rather bad mouth someone else to make youself feel better? Jon and Kate have enough to deal with. They don’t need the whole world to put there two since in. God said only he is to judge us. So many people are playing GOD. My prayers are with whole family. GOD BLESS YOU GOSSELIN FAMILY. Don’t let what people say get you down, or let what they say hurt you.

WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL????? everyong spanks once in a while. Ooh! call the cops!

Kate you did the right thing! perhaps if more people disciplined their children we wouldn’t have all these little hoodlums running around.To all those people out there who are “crying” about abuse. I guess your not smart enough to know the diffrence between abuse and discipline. Anyone who uses spanking as a scape goat for the bad things they do in there life is a moron and should be put out of there misery. Spanking lets a child know that there is consequences to your actions and that bad behavior won’t be tolerated. It’s ridiculous how some parents let their children go on and on with terrible behavior and make us all suffer. Just go to any public place. Kate didn’t punch or shove her daughter, she gave her a well deserved swat on the behind. i would do the same

whats wrong with you people? Seriously, she’s going through a divorce, everyone is talking about her like its all her fault and she’s still trying to take care of 8 children mostly on her own. Giver her a break! Its crazy how most of the people who will say how terrible she is are probably parents/mothers themselves who, if they had camera on them at all times, would appear less than perfect as well.

Kara i’m betting that your still a productive member of society anyway. am i right?

Comments as ac child i wa sspanked i turn out to be a great adult. its not abused Kate has a lot in her plate think abput you all have 2 to 3 kids or even young ones you know hpw difficult that could be, you are also know how these little people test you. They need to leave her alone and ket her do as she please with her children. all these attentions seriously will cause this woman to do something drastic. leave her alone.

I’m so sorry to hear about you life Jane but it sounds very much like you came from a very abusive family. I had a very loving family, we did everything together and I did get spanked when I stole from a store or cursed out my mother. I was taught to respect my parents, my family, how to treat other people with politeness and courtesy. I never got into any kind of trouble with the police and I owe that to the discipline I received at home. Following spankings were talks so that there was no doubt in my mind what the spanking was for. My kids all turned out great. My one daughter doesn’t believe in spanking, she believes in yelling which has caused some really stressful situations. My oldest grandson at the tender age of 12 has been kicked out of school several times, has been involved with drugs and I hold my daughter responsible for the lack of discipline and rules.

Omg a mom spanked their kid, ohhhh. Really people, if she wasn’t semi famaous no one would care. I see no wrong doing. geez gimme a break.

When I was younger, if I misbehaved I would have gotten a spanken by a paddle…kids need to learn these things or else they will be out of control and they will just keep acting up!

Kristine should try telling that to kids in Africa or the Middle East who are abused, kidnapped, or are molded into becoming criminals and murderers in their later years beyond their control. Sure, it is easy to make good decisions after being kicked, punched, slapped, verbally and sexually, and economically abused as children. I love how she gets off on this subject matter and believes anybody who uses that they were abused as children as an excuse to be the non-productive lowlife criminals in their later years. Maybe these people are creating false scenarios or are lying about getting abused. Who knows the truth, but, it’s been fun seeing her preach her Almighty tirade as if people who use the abuse angle for their behavior are scum of the planet. She believes in this shit and gets off on it, jumping to conclusions that people are pathetic enough to make this abuse reason for what they are. Talking about jumping to conclusions to a fucking wall. Yeah, delusion of celebrity grandeur can do that to a person, who is obviously more interested in how a person becomes later on in life than to see whether or not the abuse is really what makes a person become. She don’t know shit. A “well deserved swat” from behind?? What the fuck do you really know about what went on than what your goddess Kate says or does on television? You love watching this sort of publicity, don’t you? A kid not only getting a “well-deserved swat” from behind but also being filmed at such a young age because of their mom’s dumbass decision to be a media whore with multiple handlers and apparently no job but the television fame she gets that she doesn’t deserve. Kristine clearly worships a shithead who makes a decision to have a truckload of kids clearly for publicity. I couldn’t care less if one of their kids turned out to be like Drew Barrymore or even finally put this Kate bitch out of her misery for putting them in the spotlight just because she’s the grown-up in charge! Especially when they can’t find a single classmate or friend who wouldn’t know how to treat someone with Gosselin plastered to their names for life. I wish that I could speak to The President into declaring the day that Jon Gosselin cheated on this lunatic excuse for a mother to his kids a National Holiday!

I have the perfect answer for anyone who questions the way that I raise my children. “I don’t remember you being there when I conceived.” The only person that I answer to is my husband, and that is only because they are his children too. As far as spanking goes, I would rather go to jail for spanking my children, than for them to go to jail because I didn’t. Let parents parent.