For myself, it took a while to see the importance of using a rod. Now that my children are older, they have told me that they respected and feared the rod more than anything else I ever used for spanking. It should also be noted that there may be times when spanking with a rod can leave marks on a child's bottom, especially if several spanking are needed within a brief period of time. However, these marks are temporary and should not become a source of discouragement to parents. It is better for children to carry a few temporary marks on the outside than to carry within them areas of disobedience and wrong attitudes that can leave permanent marks on their character.