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Effect of abuse on child development
Benefits of spanking children
Punishment in society
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Recommended: Effect of abuse on child development
When I was in elementary school, I misbehaved more times than I could count, literally! As punishment for my wrongdoings, my parents spanked me. Since this is a go-to method for many parents, this is the unfortunate reality for many young children, not only me. You may be wondering “why is this unfortunate?” Truthfully, spanking and other forms of physical punishment create numerous unfavorable outcomes on children during their childhood as well as later in life. For this reason, before resorting to spanking, parents should consider the negative impact that it has on their children and search for alternative actions rather than utilizing physical punishment. Before describing the tragic outcomes that are associated with spanking and other …show more content…
I think an even more important question to ask is “what is effective discipline?” According to Telep, “effective discipline helps children learn to control their behavior so that they act according to their ideas of what is right and wrong, not because they fear punishment.” We have already established that spanking is not a form of discipline, yet many parents consider it as discipline because they think that it is efficient in teaching children right from wrong. However, it should be pointed out, and Telep agrees with me, that physical punishment creates fear within a child, rather than teaching them what they did wrong. Therefore, it still rings true that spanking is not a disciplinary method because it is, in fact, a method of …show more content…
A research study conducted in 2007 revealed that “punishment during childhood is associated with adult consequences: aggression, criminal and antisocial behavior, worse mental health, and the abuse of one's own child and spouse” (Richard 365). Due to these unfortunate consequences that take a toll on children later in life, it is crucial that parents refrain from using punishment in their households. By putting an end to child physical punishment, we would be benefiting the lives of many adults in the years to
Swat! The entire store tries not to stare at the overwhelmed mother spanking her three-year-old whaling son. As if the screaming tantrum wasn't enough of a side show at the supermarket. This method, or technique perhaps, has been around for decades, even centuries. Generations have sat on grandpa’s lap and listened to the stories of picking their own switch or getting the belt after pulling off a devilish trick. So why then has it become a major controversy in the past few decades? The newest claim is that spanking and other forms of physical punishment can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury and mental health problems for children. Brendan L. Smith uses many case studies and psychologists findings in his article “The Case Against Spanking” to suggest that parents refrain from physically punishing their children due to lasting harmful effects.
Spanking could also teach children that it's all right to hit, and that it's all right to be hit and that could have a negative long term effect on the children. I
Darcia Narvaez’s article “Research on Spanking: It’s Bad for ALL Kids” argues the negative effects of spanking any child. She brings light to a long standing form of parenting that has recently been proven more detrimental than beneficial. She argues that spanking any child is not only ineffective in deterring undesirable behaviors, but also damaging to any child. She argues, that spanking can cause an increase aggression in children among other undesirable behaviors. She states that spanking not only has lasting damages with the parent-child relationship, but can also lead to an increase in undesirable behaviors. Darcia Narvaez’s arguments presented are does not rely heavily on pathos, and instead uses logos.
Spanking doesn’t allow children to learn the reasons why to act appropriately. When parents use physical punishment, such as spanking, to discipline their children, they do so in order to improve their child’s behavior. According to a report composed by a lead researcher in the field of pediatrics, spanking does not teach children the reason for why they are being punished or why their behavior was wrong. Spanking teaches children to act in a desired way only because of fear of being punished. Being a victim of spanking, I only feared the idea of being spanked, and that is why I changed my behavior for the time being. I did not actually understand the reasoning for why I was being punished. Spanked children do not understand the positive and important reasons for acting properly.
Spanking is the most effective form of discipline when a child knows doing something is wrong, but the child does it anyway. A child who is properly disciplined through spanking is being taught how to control her or his impulses and how to deal with all types of authorities in future environments. Parents can control their child’s future
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.
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.
Nonetheless, considers spanking an outcome with dysfunctional mental and physical health issues that roots from often harsh spankings (Kazdin and Benjet, 2003). If parents were set to believe corporal punishment leads to the development of mental issues or physical aggression with peers solving conflicts (Taylor et al.,2016). If the world knew what corporal punishment actually does parents would seek a different approach. Most parents think the views of their children is a reflection of how they are being raised, which supports why this article argument is stronger. Another reason this article is stronger argument is because of how severe the logical fallacies are with in “Spanking and Children’s Externalizing Behavior Across the First Decade of Life:” Even so, the article did provide some strong points as well by recognizing the limitations the studies bring with parents by relying on their responses to general questions about spanking.
What do most people believe to be true about the topic? Spanking is the only resource that is most effective. Yet, there are several other types of punishments that can be used in place of spanking. In my opinion, spanking is not the most effective means of punishment. We tell kids growing up that “violence is never the answer” so why should violence, because technically speaking that is what spanking is, be the answer? Why not try to get a child to understand that their actions were wrong in a more non-violent way and not contradict ourselves. What are you trying to instill in your child, fear or violence because either one of those you will accomplish. Other than just the pain taking place during the spanking, the child could also experience
I have read several articles recently on the negative effects of discipline, particularly spanking. Refraining from spanking children has become the new "normal" for many households. In the past three years of working in childcare, I have seen many different children from many types of homes. Interestingly enough, after spending about fifteen minutes with a child one is able to tell whether or not they were spanked. In my own experience, children who have been "spared the rod" tend to have more
Spanking has several effects on the children which build many opinions among the people. Researchers have shown many positive and negative sides of physical punishment. There are several people that agree with spanking their children and there are others who are against punishing the children. Many of the parents who spank their children believe that spanking is sometimes okay because they think it will make a positive effect on their behavior. Spanking is used to correct children’s behavior, but, many people think that instead of bettering the child’s behavior it makes it worse. Spanking has been a huge issue in the past decades. Many children have been physically abused and many others have never experienced any physical harm. However, several people have been fighting so that spanking becomes against the law and so that the children have more rights and security. On the other hand, there are other parents that want spanking to be legal because they believe spanking has helped them correcting the child's behavior.
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).
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).
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).
...E. (2000). Child Outcomes of Nonabusive and Customary Physical Punishment by Parents: An Updated Literature Review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. doi:10.1023/A:1026473020315.