Spanking: The Role Of Discipline In Children

Discipline in children As a child, I witness and experience the feeling of being spanked. In today’s world several children have experienced the same feeling, however, many have experienced it because of abuse by a caregiver. Others because parents are out of control and don’t know how to teach them without physically hitting them. Spanking is a common tradition believed to make children obey their elders. Nevertheless, several adults forget that children have to be thought and guided in early childhood. Therefore, caregivers need to find a new way to discipline and teach children, spanking affects children emotionally and physically hence having bad results in the long run, and not to mention that it is illegal in several countries.

Claiming that children who are spanked as children don’t know how to self-regulate their emotions nor are they able to establish healthy relationships as adults. Moreover, it makes it extremely difficult for these children to follow adults guidance because they don’t have any faith in them consequently, creating more aggressive and antisocial children. Furthermore, a study conducted by the ABC news from U.S and 12 different countries over the period of 50 years demonstrated that children who were spanked were more likely to have mental health problems, as well as, problematic relationships with their parents and lower cognitive ability. Lastly, the study also found that children who are spanked are at greater risk of being physically abused by their parents. Claiming that, “ spanking and physical abuse are not categorically different behaviors but rather are points along a continuum of hitting children.” In other words, spanking a child is the same thing as beating a child thus, creating physical as well as emotional abuse. Yet, there are several other ways to teach and discipline

The most recent country being France who joined countries like Iceland, Israel, Sweden, Greece, Brazil, and Argentina, all have prohibited disciplinary practices. Marta Santos the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children said that the new law in France would, “ protect more than 14 million children living in France.” Finally, Doctor Gilles Lazimi, who drove the anti-spanking campaign for the Foundation for childhood in France believes that the new law, “is a very strong symbolic act to make parents understand just how all violence can be harmful to the child.” Further, there are several places where one can go get help to stop spanking or hurting a