Eva Mendes sparks parenthood debate on spanking children

American actress Eva Mendes has kicked up a passionate debate among parents about spanking children.

The 47-year-old mother of two said it is domestic violence if parents spank their children as a punishment. The actress had said: "Spanking does for a child's development what hitting a spouse does for a marriage."

The Hitch actress shares two daughters six-year-old Esmeralda Amada and four-year-old Amada Lee with Canadian actor Ryan Gosling.

"I'm often asked what my favourite red carpet dress is. This @versace is definitely up there. Im not often asked what my favourite parenting quote is, but I'll post it anyway," she said while posting her red carpet moment photo. In the same post, she included a quote on the second slide: "Spanking does for a child's development what hitting a spouse does for a marriage."

Reacting to her April 20 post, Eva Mendes' fans came out in both support and criticism. Disagreeing with her, a commenter said, "I don't know. I was spanked and now I'm a respectful adult. And believe me, I deserved those whoopings. I was a brat."

The opinionated actress was quick to respond, "thank you for your comment. So happy to agree to disagree. Want this page to offer that in a loving way. We all parent our own way and I have no idea what I'm doing most the time."

"This didn't come with a manual.[emoji].. so when there's something that resonates with me, I pass it on. Lotsa love."

Seeing eye to eye with Eva Mendes, a person penned: "Yes! I agree. Every time I was 'disciplined' growing up, I only felt fear and shame. IT never 'corrected' behaviour. I would never hit my child to teach them a lesson and inflict psychological and physical pain. but that's just me."

A commenter believed that spanking "is loss of control on the part of the parent. As parents were are trying to teach our kids how to communicate in a healthy way even when we are really, really upset. We are also helping them build those internal controls so that they do not lash out on others when things do not go their way or they are frustrated, angry or upset. We have to model what we want to see in our kids. (And we won't be perfect so that includes apologizing when we mess up!)"

However, there were most others who did not find a point in the "Hitch" star's thoughts.

"Love you but completely disagree," a fan said. "The goal in raising kids is not to have to spank, but it's correcting before they can reason behaviour out with you. Completely different than hitting someone. That's not correcting behaviour. We raised 5 respectful love kind kids that were a joy to be around. Good fruit shows from loving correction."

Eva has the response: "I totally respect you. Thank you for a respectful comment, So nice to disagree with respect. I found the quote powerful and wanted to pass it on. Lotsa love to you and yours [heart emoji]."

Replying to another dissenter, she said, "Thank you for your comment. So happy to agree to disagree."

"Want this page to offer that in a loving way. We all parent in our own way and I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. This didn't come with a manual, so when there's something that resonates with me, I pass it on. Lotsa love."