Effects Of Corporal Punishment

The Effects of Corporal Punishment on Children 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 …show more content…

The first thing to look at is the immediate effect physical force has on the child. Seasoned child care provider, author, and host of the international hit television series Supernanny, Jo Frost points out in her latest book that “inflicting pain on a child shuts down the good-judgement part of the brain which then reverts to basic primitive processing, fight-or-flight.” Instead of the child processing what they did that was wrong and learning from the experience, the child’s instincts are instead frantically attempting to protect itself from pain. As many parents who implement corporal punishment will attest, the effect is an immediate halt of the unwanted behaviour. As Frost pointed out, the child, while compliant, is not having a positive learning experience. Without trust and learning, it is likely the child will try harder not to get caught which in turn, creates distance in the parent/ child relationship. While there are plenty of people quick to explain just how “fine” they turned out, there are plenty more who can testify how a swat on the bottom can intensify to a sore rear end, escalate to welts on the back, and in some cases become bruises and bloodied noses. Duke University professors Jennifer Lansford and Kenneth Dodge concluded from …show more content…

Any parent who has threatened to spank a child to modify behavior has observed the immediate change in demeanor. Psychologists tell us, however, that corporal punishment has no more of a desired effect on a child in the long term than alternative disciplinary methods such as a timeout or revoking privileges. Sweden proved that corporal punishment is no more effective than alternative methods and law enforcement officers are no more burdened by the laws put in place to protect the physical integrity of children. If in fact opponents and proponents are both right, their methods both work equally as well as the other, which one is the right one? Can they both be right? Unless we are going to make it legal to go around hitting each other for being snarky, rude, disrespectful, not paying attention, or just out of irritation due to undesirable behavior, the right thing to do is protect the most innocent of our kind. The right thing to do is give our children the same rights we give our family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. The moral thing to do is lead by example. The answer is