Moms Talk: Is It OK to Spank Your Child?

Moms Talk is a new feature on GloucesterTownship.Patch.com that is part of a new initiative on our Patch sites to reach out to moms and families.

GloucesterTownship.Patch.com invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in Gloucester Township.

Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of experts and smart moms take your questions, give advice and share solutions, utilizing the comment box, or "shout" box, as we call it, found on the right-hand side of our home page.

Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community will have a new resource for questions about local neighborhood schools, the best pediatricians, 24-hour pharmacies and the thousands of other issues that arise while raising children.

Moms Talk will also be the place to drop in for a talk about the latest parenting hot topic. Do you know of local moms raising their children in the Tiger Mother's way and is it the best way? Where can we get information on local flu-shot clinics for children? How do we talk to our children about the Tucson shootings? How can we help our children's schools weather their budget cutbacks?

So grab a cup of coffee and settle in as we start the conversation today with a question from local editor Sean McCullen, who asks on the heels of a Jan. 26 New Jersey Supreme Court decision that says it is:

Do you think it is OK to spank your children? If so, how do you draw that line between good ol' fashioned punishment and abuse?