Spare the Kids is an online anti-spanking portal established by Dr. Stacey Patton in 2010.  The mission is to use digital technology, social media, and the basic science of early child development to educate parents and caretakers about the risks and harms of hitting, and to encourage practical peaceful alternatives to aggressive and humiliating punishment.

This site also provides resources for child welfare and juvenile justice professionals, K-12 educators, social workers in training, foster parents, residential counselors, clinicians, advocates and activists seeking to enhance their understanding of how race, power, and privilege impact the parenting practices of their clients and the institutional practices that sometimes result in racial disparities.  Our cultural competency workshops are child-centered and tailored to help professionals develop specialized knowledge and understanding of history, traditions, values, family systems, and racial trauma so they can become more effective at empowering the children and families they serve.

Though this site is targeted to Black communities because of the unique cultural and historical specificity of corporal punishment, given the prevalence and acceptance of spanking in American culture, the discussions and resources provided here will be useful to a wide and diverse audience.