Kelly Clarkson revealed in a new radio interview that she’s “not above” spanking her kids—and people have some serious feelings about it.
With this, Clarkson is facing backlash on social media after revealing she spanks her 3-year-old daughter River as a form of discipline. Despite the fact that spanking children is frowned upon, the star still does it.
In an interview with Atlanta radio station 94.1, Clarkson said: “I’m not above a spanking, which people aren’t necessarily into. I don’t mean hitting her hard, I just mean a spanking.”
The Kelly Clarkson Show host continued: “My parents spanked me, and I did fine in life, and I feel fine about it, and I do that as well. “That’s a tricky thing, when you’re out in public because then people are like, they think that’s wrong or something, but I find nothing wrong with a spanking.”
However, The “American Idol” winner clarified that she does not smack her kids on the spot. Her first step is to warn them.
“I’m like, ‘Hi, I’m going to spank you on your bottom if you don’t stop right now; this is ridiculous. Honestly it’s really helped. She doesn’t do that kind of stuff as often.”
Her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock has two children with Clarkson: River Rose, eight, and Remington Alexander, six.
As a mother, she often talks candidly about parenting, and she has experienced “mom guilt.”
She told Redbook in 2016: “I have a lot of mum guilt. If you’re a mum, you want to be with your kid every day. You don’t want to miss a moment, you want her to need you and want you and not want somebody else.”
The singer is relatively reluctant to spank in public since she knows that public opinion on the practice is mixed, to say the least.
She did say that she struggles, though, when it comes to disciplining her children in public, especially because she is a celebrity. “That’s a tricky thing when you’re out in public cause then people are like, you know,” she said, alluding to the current disapproval of smacking.
The star went on to say that she was spanked as a child and felt it hadn’t had any long-term impact. “So my parents spanked me and I did fine in life and I feel fine about it, but I do that, too,” Clarkson explains.
According to Opposing Views, a number of readers shared their thoughts on Clarkson’s admission, with some disagreeing that spanking is necessary as reported by CafeMom.
“I’m a Single mom with 3 boys,” one reader commented. “I never spanked my children because I taught them to be respectful. They’re all teenagers now. A/B students, athletes, and very respectful responsible people. Hitting a child doesn’t teach them anything other than it’s ok to hit when you’re angry or frustrated.”
“Spanking lets children think it’s ok to hit!!” another Facebook user shared. “When they go to school it’s my experience working 30 years with children they hit to solve problems. It’s hard to teach children another way once this has been the practice.”
“Good for her, parents today do not discipline their kinds and that’s why there are a bunch of entitled brats running around the world who think they can get away with anything,” another reader wrote. “There is a line between discipline and abuse and she certainly knows the difference; that’s another problem that has developed in society.”
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Sources: OpposingViews, Today, CafeMom