Kelly Clarkson defends spanking her kids, takes social media backlash

Wednesday, January 10, 2018
To spank or not to spank - that's the question many parents wrestle with when it comes to disciplining their children.

And American Idol star Kelly Clarkson is no exception.
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The 35-year-old singer is now the center of a social media debate after revealing that she disciplines her kids the same way her parents did with her - spanking included.

"I'm from the south, y'all, so like, we get spankings," she explained on the Rochester, New York-based radio station last week. "So, my parents spanked me and I did fine in life and I feel fine about it."

And when it comes to her daughter River Rose, 3, and son Remington, 1, she said she isn't "above" a little tough love.



"I'm not above a spanking which people aren't necessarily into and I don't mean like hitting her hard, I just mean a spank."



Clarkson said it's hard to disciple her kids being in the public eye because of what is deemed "socially acceptable."
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"So, that's the tricky thing, when you're in public 'cause then people are like, you know ... they think that's wrong or something, but I find nothing wrong with a spanking."



Even though Clarkson acknowledges that not all parents agree with spanking, she said it won't curb how she's going to raise her children.

"I'm a well-rounded individual with a lot of characters so I think it's fine."



While new generations of parents are frowning on hitting their children's bottoms, the public by a 2-1 margin actually approves of spanking children in principle, and half of the parents said they sometimes do it to their own kids, an ABCNEWS poll found.
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