Eva Mendes sparked a passionate conversation among parents after posting a quote about spanking children to Instagram.
The quote that caused the uproar was this: "Spanking does for a child's development what hitting a spouse does for a marriage."
After the April 20 post, many of Eva's followers sounded off in both support and criticism.
"Yes! I agree. Every time I was 'disciplined' growing up, I only felt fear and shame. IT never 'corrected' behavior. I would never hit my child to teach them a lesson and inflict psychological and physical pain. but that's just me," one person wrote.
Another echoed 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, many people were vehemently opposed to the "Hitch" star's thoughts.
"Love you but completely disagree," responded one fan. "The goal in raising kids is not to have to spank, but it's correcting before they can reason behavior out with you. Completely different than hitting someone. That's not correcting behavior. We raised 5 respectful love kind kids that were a joy to be around. Good fruit shows from loving correction."
Eva responded, "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]."
The actress and mom of two had a similar response to another fan who disagreed.
"Thank you for your comment. So happy to agree to disagree," she replied. "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."