Effects of Corporal Punishment on Children

When a man is unpleased with something his spouse says or does and he hits her, our society labels it as abuse. If a mother hits her child our society labels it as spanking. Whichever terminology is used to help define corporal punishment, it all means the same. The very idea of physical discipline is based on an adult using his or her larger physique and power to intimidate and force someone much smaller and weaker into a state of compliance (Rathis, 2007). In the western culture, they publically frown at people who use their physical power to dominate someone smaller, yet when it comes to their children they take a pass, turn their heads, and call it spanking (Ray, 2008). It is hard to understand why society continues to argue the approval of spanking children. Many people acknowledge that children and adults should not use physical force against each other; however, people firmly oppose if it’s acceptable if adults should spank children. When will our society get to a position where everyone agrees that a child’s body belong to themself, and exploiting their bodies, despite how others define abuse? Spankings lead to many issues such as, lower IQ scores, mental/emotional problems, physical abuse, and damaged parent-child bonds resulting from an ineffective punishment.

There is only a small but very interesting amount history dealing with the negative impact of spankings. Negative impact of spanking a child came under discussion in the late 1900s when the United Nations embraced the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which informs that a child has the freedom to be excluded from sexual and economic exploitation. (News Dash,2010). One hundred and ninety three nations have signed to enforce the treaty because they feel that...

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...drawing attention. Timeouts work because it gives the parents time to regain composure and it is a neutral place for the child (Spencer 2001).

Parents should think twice when it comes to disciplining their children because spankings aren’t always the way to go. Spankings may injure children causing them to become aggressive, have lower IQ scores than children who are not spanked and develop mental and emotional problems. Spankings may also damage the bond between a parent and a child and may lead to physical abuse and violence. Overall spankings are ineffective because they only stop a behavior momentarily. With that being said parents should find other ways to punish their children because spankings come with so many issues and harm. Knowing all the effects a spanking can have on a child many people may turn to other disciplining techniques as listed above.