Should Parents Be Allowed To Spank Children

Living in the twenty-first century you rarely ever see someone spank their child or hear the word spank come out of a parent’s mouth. I see too many parents today that are too self-righteous to spank their children, because many people see spanking as form of abuse. Many parents in today’s world use more reasonable punishments for their misbehaving children. Some parents put their children in time-outs, relieve them of their freedom, take toys away and ground them. I’ve see parents use these methods because there are more reasonable ways of punishing their child for being disobedient. However, not everybody in today’s world uses these methods for defying children; some parents use the act of spanking for punishment. Spanking was a popular punishment

Even though Toth didn’t touch on one of the issues brought up in the Cuddy and Reeves article, they would both still agree that corporal punishment causes mental issues, increased aggression, and parental distant Clearly, both authors have stated the same issues that are caused by usage of corporal punishment on children. But, both authors define physical discipline differently. Toth sees the use of corporal punishment as having long-term, life-altering effects. “Among scientists,” she states, “there is a consensus that actual physical abuse damages children, directly and over the course of a life.” Toth is saying that use of physical discipline on children can cause damage the way a child may act and behave for the rest of his/her life. By disciplining them through corporal punishment, a child who reaches adulthood may be afraid to ask for help or be afraid to confront their boss with a problem they may have caused, because of the fear they were inflicted as a child by being physically punished. Cuddy and Reeves defined the cause of physical discipline to have more of a mental state effect. Cuddy and Reeves state “Children spanked frequently and/or severely are at higher risk for mental health problems, ranging from anxiety and depression to alcohol and

He goes to discuss that corporal punishment should only be used for disobedience and negative behavior, never for sheer harm of the child. “What we want children to understand is that the gentle sting of a spanking is connected to the greater and often long-term pain of harmful choices. Simply put, prevention is easier than cure.” Pingleton states. I agree here with what Pingleton is saying, spanking isn’t meant to be an act of abuse, its meant to be an act of discipline to discourage bad behavior and to prevent it from happening it in the future. In another article that touches on the use of spanking, that is an opposing view to Pingleton, is “Is It Okay to Spank? “ by Kitty O'Callaghan, published in Modern Family and Fresh Ideas Parenting online article. O'Callaghan discusses her point of view on spanking and how it has shaped her as a parent. She agrees and disagrees with use of spanking, but believe it’s an effective method to stop unruly behavior of a child. “Even parents (like me) who are against spanking in theory admit that it seems to be a particularly effective stopgap when their child is doing