Every parent(s) encountered an experience where their child becomes ruthless and act in a disorderly way. There are times when the child acts that way to gain attention from their parent(s) or because they “feel” like it and wants to be in control. For instance, let’s say you, who are the parent, decide to go to Wal-Mart with your child. While you are in Wal-Mart, your child comes across a toy that he/she wants badly. You already know you will not have enough money to buy the toy so you find a way to explain it in a way he/she will understand. You also make a promise to your child that you will buy it another time so they will not cry. All a sudden, your child becomes the “angel” from hell and begins to cry, scream, and grabbed other toys off the shelf to throw it on the floor and make a mess. Other customers begin to stare at you and start shaking their heads. You try your best to calm your child but he/she will not stop crying until he/she gets their way. STOP!! This is where the scenario ends. What would you, as the parent, do in this situation? Would you spoiled your child and buy them that toy after he/she completely embarrassed you and became disruptive? Or would you spank your child in the backside to show them who is in control and do not buy the toy? The main question here is: to spank or not to spank?
This leads to an editorial written by Miami Herald columnist, Leonard Pitts Jr. who is the author of “Spare the Rods, Spoil the Parenting.” In this essay, Pitts uses rhetorical tactics in his article to present his views on corporal punishment. The genre of this editorial is an op-ed (opinionated-editorial) piece. Pitts persuasively try to convince his audience, who are parents, to understand that disciplining a child i...
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...a personal anecdote to appeal more to his audience because it is simple to tell that he was passionate about this topic. The only downfall in the author’s essay is, he did not include much about pathos into his writing. This essay was more of an ethical and logical review and far less emotional. Even though his editorial is opinion based, his essay was effective because it was supported by Dr. Baumrind’s studied, which explores his logical proof to his readers. Also, Pitt’s personal touch adds interest in his writing. He wants to make sure his audience agrees and understand his argument and position of corporal punishments.
Works Cited
Pitts, Jr., Leonard. "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Parenting." Miami Herald Sept. 2001. Rpt. in The
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With only three short paragraphs arguing why corporal punishment is ineffective, Jacoby dedicates the rest of his essay attacking and degrading the court and justice system. What Jacoby could have done to improve his essay is to write about why the corporal system failed to continue onto the 21st century and perhaps interview those who are more involved in the justice system; For example, words of those who are incarcerated for misdemeanors or even victims of prison rape could have improved his
McNeil, Hayden. The Anteater's Guide to Writing & Rhetoric. Irvine: Composition Program, Department of English, UC Irvine, 2014. Print.
Spanking is an important aspect of a child’s social development and should not be considered an evil form of abuse. In her argument, Debra Saunders says that there is an obvious difference between beating a child and spanking a child, and parents know the boundary. Spanking is the most effective form of discipline when a child knows doing something is wrong, but the child does it anyway. A child who is properly disciplined through spanking is being taught how to control her or his impulses and how to deal with all types of authorities in future environments. Parents can control their child’s future behavior by using spanking in early childhood, because if...
In western society, there has been debate in recent years over the use of corporal punishment for children in general, and increased attention has been given to the concept of "positive parenting" where good behavior is encouraged and rewarded
Harvard Medical School . "The Spanking Debate." Harvard Mental Health Letter (2002): 1-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 April 2011.
The use of physical discipline arises an abundant amount of negative outcomes for the children impacted by the physical punishment. Typically, the physically punished child will result in having several psychological troubles fro...
The use of spanking is one of the most controversial parenting practices and also one of the oldest, spanning throughout many generations. Spanking is a discipline method in which a supervising adult deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a child’s unacceptable behaviour. Although spanking exists in nearly every country and family, its expression is heterogeneous. First of all the act of administering a spanking varies between families and cultures. As Gershoff (2002) pointed out, some parents plan when a spanking would be the most effective discipline whereas some parents spank impulsively (Holden, 2002). Parents also differ in their moods when delivering this controversial punishment, some parents are livid and others try and be loving and reason with the child. Another source of variation is the fact that spanking is often paired with other parenting behaviours such as, scolding, yelling, or perhaps raging and subsequently reasoning. A third source of variation concerns parental characteristics. Darling and Steinberg (1993) distinguished between the content of parental acts and the style in which it was administered (Holden, 2002). With all this variation researchers cannot definitively isolate the singular effects of spanking.
We have all encountered this situation: A small child is standing in the middle of a department store throwing a complete temper tantrum demanding a toy. His mother, exasperated threatens him with time-outs and other deprived privileges, but the stubborn child continues to kick and scream. In the "old days," a mother wouldn't think twice about marching the defiant child to the bathroom and giving him a good spanking to straighten him out, but these days, parents have to worry about someone screaming child abuse. Whether or not to spank a child has become a heated issue in today's society.
...r kid is old fashioned. They used to do it in school. If you got in trouble, you were sent to the principal’s office and spanked with a paddle. There is a reason why they don’t have that anymore, that reason is the same reason I am writing this essay, its cruel and there are so many other ways to discipline your child. When I have kids one day, I will never spank them. Spanking is old fashioned and will hopefully be extinct very soon. Spanking your child will make that child scared of you and scared to do anything because he or she will be afraid to do anything and I’m sure that was not the intended outcome that the parents wanted to happen. So, what I am trying to say is, don’t spank your kid, sit him down, explain the situation and he or she will learn from mistakes and with benefit more from the conversation that just being spanked and sent to his or her room.
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