Definition Of Smacking Essay

While many adults would argue that hitting people is wrong, spanking children continues to be used as an acceptable form of discipline. Many parents think spanking will teach children not to do things that are forbidden, stop them quickly when they are being irritating, and encourage them to do what they should. So what do children learn from being spanked? The hitting itself doesn’t teach them anything. How contradictory is it for you to say that your child cannot hit or hurt anyone else—but that you can hurt him whenever you think it's appropriate?

Hitting your child, is teaching them that it is okay to become violent when you’re mad, which is not a good lesson to learn. Also, it could result in your child, bringing these lessons to their own children, and maybe even reflect it on their spouse. Why is it seen as correct, to hit a child for hitting someone else? The irony is that you’re doing wrong, just as they are. You need to teach children, that violence is not the correct way to go about things, so they spread that to everyone around them.

However, the question still stands: how far does the spanking have to go in order for it to be considered child abuse? Although some are convinced that there are better ways to discipline a child, there are others that maintain the idea that spanking is the best option for disciplinary action. There is a lot of violence in the world today, but think about this: what if these people were once beaten and physically abused as children? In the article, Parents and Experts Split on Spanking, an expert, Dr. Spock, states that the reason there is a lot of violence in the world could be because of all the spanking that the parents do to their children (1). This statement could possibly be true.

Today, parents continue to have the right to spank their children however it is now an issue that is frowned upon by many. Spanking is detrimental to children because it can damage the relationship between the parent and child, promotes the act of violence, and can cause the child to develop mental disorders. Predominantly, spanking

Also, if you smack them softly the first time it will only get harder and harder and harder until the child has to suffer violent abuse just to be punished for small things. Another argument against smacking is that some people might only smack to release their own anger or frustration. There are many alternatives to smacking, I think alternatives to smacking are better and are more likely to work, I think smacking is wrong and if you do smack your children, some kind of hate or fear builds up inside them, they end up fearing you.

A child will isolate themselves from others and experience severe loneliness. Abused children are more likely to bully other children around, isolating themselves from their peers (Judith 117). They sometimes fall into the pattern of befriending people who will only betray and cause them more pain. Abuse to a child can be a source of very painful experiences. Children often handle these experiences in the wrong way.

Physical punishment has been a problem in hitting their children so they can have discipline or not hitting them because it is not right, so what can parents do and what can they not do? Should the parents hit them to learn discipline, or should they not hit them and figure out another way to make them learn what discipline is? Because many parents do not know or are confused in showing their children how to gain discipline they do not know whether to hit them or not to hit them. Many people think that by hitting their children that they are showing them violence but other people say that if you do the children would understand that they did something wrong and would not repeat it and gain discipline. What can parents do?

Well, maybe you shouldn’t spank your child as a punishment. Studies show that when you spank your kid repeatedly, it can have negative effects on them. Facts also show that spanking your child isn’t only harming the child, but it could be harming the parent as well. Parents shouldn’t spank their kids or use corporal punishment as a punishment. The reason for this is because capital punishment affects children’s learning in a negative way, it affects areas of the child’s brain causing violence, and capital

If they think what their parents did to them worked, they are wrong. There are other ways to punish a child-like time outs, removal of privileges, or verbal reprimands (Guidance for Effective Discipline). They also may think that it will stop bad behaviors. Again, they would be wrong. Abusing a child will only make them more rebellious and they will become violent in the future (Child Abuse and Neglect Recognizing and Preventing Child Abuse).

While hitting releases anger and frustration, and might work in the short-term, what parents really want is for children to be self controlled and disciplined. If long term goals are not addressed, bad behavior will return as soon as the person doing the punishing leaves. Non punitive actions can create well behaved, independent, socially developed children. Physical punishment is not a constructive method of discipline. It tells the child that you are displeased with what they have done, but it doesn’t tell them how to behave in a way that will be more satisfactory.