Can you spank your child in Texas? Reasonable corporal punishment is legal in Texas. In fact, many schools in Texas allow school personnel to spank a child if a parent consents. However, this is a controversial topic. What one parent sees as reasonable, another parent sees as abuse. As a divorce and child custody attorney, many of my clients are facing a potential custody battle.
Even if I know that the judge will have no problem with reasonable spanking, a juror might. In fact, it would be difficult to collect 12 random people and not have at least one that firmly feels that any type of physical discipline is abuse. If you see a child custody battle in your future, use another form of discipline. Time outs, assigning chores, confiscating cell phones and removing privileges are all less controversial. I used to make my children do jumping jacks for misbehavior.
If you see a child custody battle in your future, use another form of discipline.
Don’t be afraid to visit with other parents and experiment with different disciplines until you find something that works that cannot be used against you in court. Do you have a family law question that you would like to ask a Texas attorney? Post it in the comments below and it may be addressed in a future video.
