Proverbs 13:24 in the New King James version of the bible states that “He who spares his rod hates his son: but he that loves him disciplines him promptly.” The Nelson study bible goes into more detail and states that a parent’s loving discipline is modeled after God’s loving correction. The list of pros and cons relating to corporal punishment can be very different for each individual and is defined as physical punishment, such as spanking, inflicted on a child by an adult in authority. Lets look at the pros, cons and the effectiveness of corporal punishment in the United States and the rest of the world.
According to Dr. Phil.com, spanking can be effective on a short-term basis in getting children to change any negative behaviors that prompted the spanking. It has been shown to be most effective in 2- to 6-year-olds when used in conjunction with milder disciplinary methods, such as reasoning and time-outs. In a study, mothers who combined reasoning with negative consequences (such as spanking) had the most success in changing negative behaviors. The cons of spanking include increased aggressiveness, antisocial behavior, and delinquency. Weaker associations for spanking such as a failure to learn right from wrong, subsequent criminal behavior, mental illness, and child or spouse abuse as adults, have also been suggested. Physical punishment can send mixed messages to a child and reinforce aggressive behavior. When parents model aggressive behaviors by spanking, they reinforce the idea that physical aggression is the way to get what you want. Spanking is associated with a poorer relationship between the parent and child and make them feel less attached to their parents and less trusting of them. The more the child was spanked, ...
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Works Cited
Countries outlawing physical punishment of children. (2010, June 1). Discipline and the law. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from The Center for Effective Discipline website: http://www.stophitting.com/index.php?page=laws-main
King Solomon. (1997). Proverbs 13:24. In The Nelson Study Bible, New King James version (p. 1050). Nashville, TN: Thomas-Nelson publishers.
Mahoney, S. (2005, August). Spanking: Which side of the fence are you on? Parents Magazine, 80(8), 146.
McGraw, P., M.D. (n.d.). Parenting: Spanking research. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from 2009 Peteski Productions, INC. website: http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/256
Talbot, J. C. (n.d.). Lets put spanking to rest. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from Harmony Unlimited/Seventh Monkey Productions website: http://home.earthlink.net/~harmonyunltd/spank/spanking.html
...ery helpful information for people who would like alternatives to spanking. (Project No Spank, 2014) (The Center of Effective Disipline, 2014)
Zolotor,A.J.,Theodore,A.D.,Runyan,D.K.,Chang,J.J.,&Laskey,A. L. (2011). Corporal punishment and physical abuse: population- based trends for three-to-11-year-old children in the United States. Child Abuse & Neglect, 20, 57–66.
Rosellini, Lynn. When To Spank. U.S. News and World Report. v. 124 no14 Apr. 13 ?98, p. 52-3+.
Holden (2002) reviewed Gershoff’s (2002) meta-analyses of eighty-eight (88) studies and noted that there were both positive and negative outcomes associated with the punishment of spanking. According to Gershoff’s (2002) analysis, the one positive outcome was immediate compliance by the child (Holden, 2002). This result was found to be consistent in five (5) studies. Immediate compliance was defined as the child complying to the parents directive within five (5) seconds. In stark contrast, there were four (4) negative outcomes. The analysis showed a negative effect on the quality of the parent child relationship, the child’s mental health, the child’s perception of being a victim of physical child abuse, and also impacted aggression in adulthood (Holden, 2002).
Finally, we need to know more about the personal resources of parents that can lessen the incidence of spanking. It is found that spanking sharply decreases as the parent ages. Despite ideological motivations, parents can and should be trained to understand alternative strategies of discipline (Day 93).
Spanking is commonly associated with parents attempting to correct behavior in a child; ultimately often out of frustration and/or anger with the child’s behavior. In the heat of the moment, most parents do not associate the long term psychosocial or behavioral effects the act of spanking can have on a child. The dangers of these effects derived from how children think and behave show us that spanking is not an effective form of discipline.
Proverbs 32:24: “Those who spare the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” Ever since biblical times, spanking has been the most dominant, widespread discipline for children. Since many Americans claim Christianity, they follow the Holy Bible. Although spanking is a ritual type of discipline that has been among humans since biblical times and even before Christ, the world has grown and evolved to find other ways of punishment and discipline for their children. But since high rates of parents being arrested for being accused of abuse for beating their children, many families have found and used other methods of punishment. Which leads to the overall question: “Should spanking be outlawed in the United States?”
First of all, spanking does not lead to violence. Our surrounding world and media do. "The average sixteen-year- old has watched 18,000 murders during his formative years, including a daily bombardment of stabbings, shootings, hangings, decapitations, and general dismemberment" (Meier 34). It seems unjust to blame parents who are trying to raise their children properly for today's violence. If a child touches a hot stove he does not become a more violent person because of it, he just learns not to do it again because he learned a valuable lesson from the pain (Meier 34).
Have you ever been spanked? Maybe smacked? We all have our own stories of how our parents disciplined us, we take them as funny stories and even joke about them. If you were born in the 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s, you already know what I’m talking about and I bet many stories already ran through your mind right now. But as we grew up and time passed by, there has been this dilemma about this method of parenting. [2] “Parents feel mixed-up and uncomfortable about disciplining their children”. Few parents in modern times do not trust this kind of act of physical punishment at home and they think that is detrimental for kids. Therefore, a good amount of parents are trying to make the government restrict the parents who spank from doing so.
Spanking children can affect society as well by affecting the behavior of the child; spanking kids can have an effect on the behavior of the child (Levine, Rebekah, & Carnnao, 2014). Children may internalize and/or externalize behaviors. Some ways children will internalize the behavior maybe children become depressed, withdraw from others, changes within sleep patterns and many more. Children that are spanked before the age 1, do not understand why they are being spanked so they internalize behavior and are most likely to do the same the that was considered deemed for punishment (Maguire-Jack & Gromoske, 2012)
Spanking, a fictitious form of child abuse, is an appropriate action toward unruly children. It is a popular practice used to instill discipline and values in children, and is more effective than talking to or yelling at the child or placing the child in “time out” sessions. In the long run, spanking causes no damage to the child’s mental or physical health. Instead, it creates a basis for good behavior.
Critics of spanking need to understand that spanking and abuse are not the same. Spanking is a quick squat on the buttock that causes temporary pain. Child abuse is physical injury such as beating, kicking, or punching a child with cruel intent. Psychiatrist William Glasser makes a distinction between the two. Glasser explains, “Discipline is directed at the objectionable behavior, and the child will accept its consequences without resentment.” By contrast, he defined punishment as, “A response that is directed at the individual” (qtd. in Dobson 96). Spanking allows room for forgiveness and reconciliation. Abuse comes from a place of hostility. It is harsh and leaves little room for forgiveness or reconciliation. Yes, spanking may cause brief discomfort, but it is not the same as beating, punching, or kicking a child.
Smith, B. L. (2012). The case against spanking. American Psychological Association, 43(4), 60. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/spanking.aspx
Even though most people are split on the issue, the fact still stands that spanking and child abuse tends to go hand-in-hand with violence in the future. When you hear of someone disciplining a child, you typically assume the child got a spanking. It’s actually really sad that we, as humans, assume that. Think about it though - if it actually came down to it that there were real laws set in place against spanking, what would come next? There are no true ways to put a halt to spanking as a form of punishment considering it would be too difficult to actually enforce such laws. In conclusion, spanking may or may not have a direct correlation to violent futures, but it can definitely be a huge factor to it.
Corporal punishment is the physical disciplinary method used by parents, teachers, and school administrators in an effort to correct a child’s undesirable behaviors. The use of physical force is one that is often times controversial and usually evokes very strong reactions. These feelings surface, and opposing views clash, when scandals surrounding corporal punishment hit the media and heated arguments in the comments section of articles emerge. While corporal punishment occasionally makes its way into the limelight, it is a decision all parents are faced with eventually and often times daily. For example, when a toddler is sprawled out on the grocery store floor kicking, hitting, and flinging