Was Jack a spanking dad?

[robmic]

I would bet he was. It was never actually stated, and all 3 kids were too old to be spanked when the show started. Jack was an old school dad. He was hard-nosed, tough, and old-fashioned. And you must consider the era. Jack was the Korean War generation and began his family in the 1950s. Karen would have been born around 1952 and Wayne and Kevin 2 and 4 years later respectively. Most all parents of that era spanked. That was what good parents did back then. There was no controversy over it at all.

Kevin stated in the pilot that Jack had never hit him, but that he had given Wayne a beating twice. What is meant by "beating" is not explained. I would think it meant merely a spanking because I can't see Jack being abusive to his kids. If we go with that meaning, then it is a definite that Jack never spanked Kevin. And going by that definition, he spanked Wayne twice that Kevin knew of. Of course there could have been other times that Kevin didn't know about. That leaves Karen. I would bet that Jack spanked Karen on rare occasions when she was little. She was the oldest child, and parents tend to be harder on the oldest. Kevin may have never been aware of this because Karen was about 4 years older than him, and by the time he was old enough to remember she was beyond spanking age. Plus, Kevin and Wayne shared a room so Kevin would have natually been more aware of Wayne's mischief. And finally, when Kevin was riding home in the car after getting in trouble for throwing the apple and was anticipating his fate, he would have natually compared his upcoming punishment to Wayne's because Jack would have been more brutal with his sons than with Karen.

Jack Arnold was probably the most realistic fathers ever on television. So, I would find it hard to believe that he never spanked. Why did he never spank Kevin? There are a number of reasons why not. First, Kevin was the youngest so Jack might have been slightly more mellow by the time he came along. Second, since Kevin was the youngest perhaps Norma "saved" him more from Jack. Third, perhaps Kevin was simply better behaved than his siblings and never needed spanking. He certainly was the better behaved teenager compared to the other two.

I don't think Norma ever spanked. I see her as a "wait until your dad gets home" kind of mother, typical of the time period. She would have left the discipline to Jack and probably never allowed him to discipline Kevin, her baby.

[browneyes106]

I think Jack would have been to the type to spank his kids in situations in which they really screwed up but a lot of TV shows rarely or never show parents physically discplining their kids.

[biffbronson]

Originally Posted by robmic

Jack Arnold was probably the most realistic fathers ever on television. So, I would find it hard to believe that he never spanked. Why did he never spank Kevin? There are a number of reasons why not. First, Kevin was the youngest so Jack might have been slightly more mellow by the time he came along. Second, since Kevin was the youngest perhaps Norma "saved" him more from Jack.

I was the youngest and grew up in almost the same exact years as Kevin. You can bet I wasn't spared due to either of those reasons in my family. In fact, I got "the belt" when I really deserved it. Spanking is nothing compared with your dad hitting you with something like that.

It was the rare dad who didn't spank in that era. I think most people will verify that. If Jack was portrayed as never spanking, it was unrealistic as far as depicting the typical dad.