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Effect of spanking on parent-child relationship
Effects of corporal punishments on children
Emotional effects of spanking on children
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In recent studies, researchers have found that ninety percent of parents spank their children; yet, seventy-three percent of mothers report that their child will continue to repeat their behavior they were disciplined for (Ogilvie). Based of this information, the effectiveness of this form of discipline seems to be incredibly low. Now consider another fact: how harmful is this to children physically and mentally? Would this affect them as they grow up and even continue to affect them into their adulthood? If it fails to do anything beneficial, obviously, unforeseen consequences will be the result. Spanking children is not effective as a punishment and should be replaced with different methods to punish with lesser negative effects on young children.
Everyone has heard the phrase “monkey see, monkey do”, and children are definitely victims of copying what their parents do (Ogilvie). Spanking does not teach right from wrong, unless a parent feels the need to let their children become aggressive and violent, by the example they set in place for their child (Park). In a study led by Catherine Taylor, it was found that a child at age five that is spanked twice during one month would become more aggressive by fifty percent (Park). Spanking sets up a continuous cycle of bad behavior because this punishment causes fear rather than understanding of what they had done wrong (Park). Spanking a child can change the relationship between child and parent, the child will fear being hit again and learn to lie instead of learning to do what is right (Ogilvie). This poor disciplinary action can lead a child to not do what is right, but to never learn and do wrong.
Children, at young ages, depend on parents to guide them on how to behave in li...
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... problems. If parents could push this form of abuse out of their habits and incorporate something that works in the long run, children would understand their wrongdoings. The seventy-three percent of the children who repeat their behavior after being spanked could easily learn better and drop that percentage if parents could teach themselves different ways.
Works Cited
Elliott, Josh. “Is Spanking Okay?.” ABC.com. Good Morning America. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Ogilvie, Jessica P. "Pro/Con: Spanking." Latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. 26 Dec. 2011. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Park, Alice. "The Long-Term Effects of Spanking." Time.com. Time. 3 May 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Rochman, Bonnie. "Why Spanking Doesn't Work." Time.com. Time. 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
Toth, Sheree L. “When does Spanking Become Abuse?.” Cnn.com. CNN. 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.
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
There are detrimental risks and disadvantages to using spanking children as a form of punishment. Children will never actually learn the reasoning for why they are being spanked. This will not produce benefits for the child later in life; it will actually hurt them because they aren’t learning important lessons as a child. A giant risk a parent takes when choosing to spank their child is that it may lead to increased aggression by age 5. Also the more a parent spanks, the less effective it becomes. Spanking has no benefits and is harmful to children.
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 a child is a controversial issue. On one side of the debate are people who believe spanking is a necessary component of parenting. On the contrary are people who think spanking a child is destructive. Somewhere in the middle are people who believe spanking is legitimate only when used correctly. Part of the reason for the debate is that some parents and experts define spanking differently. To some, spanking means slapping a child on the rear-end, while others believe it is a form of corporal punishment that does not cause injury. By showing how each perspective of spanking supports their claim and defining spanking, one will be able to form an opinion.
Hyman, Irwin A. The Case Against Spanking: How to Discipline Your Children Without Hitting. San Fransico: Jossey-Bass, 1997. Print.
Harvard Medical School . "The Spanking Debate." Harvard Mental Health Letter (2002): 1-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 April 2011.
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).
Social effects of spanking, therefore, include; fear, spanking teaches a child to be fearful. Spanking is quite shameful and humiliating, when a child is made to undergo spanking from a very young age they grow to be scared and may never have the opportunity to express their opinions openly. They will relate the pain they suffered through physical punishment with older people and this would make them timid even around their teachers. It may also cause them to not listen to their parent and ultimately they grow up to be resentful. Secondly, it makes a child learn violence, this is cultivated when a child interprets that violence is an acceptable means of resolving the conflict. Surveys have over time proven that kids who are spanked will most likely fight and hit other children and will most likely become violent
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).
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
Some people believe spanking a child is child abuse, and that it causes the child to grow up aggressive and violent. This would mean that every child that is spanked during their developmental stages will grow up to be an example of bad behavior. However, there is no actual data or information that can confirm that spanking a child will cause a child to grow up to be violent or too aggressive. Children have been trained to obey rules or a set code of behavior for centuries. It is the best way to mold a child to be a respectable adult, and they can pass on the behavior to their future children. It may not always happen, but its pretty effective.
It has been said that “spanking trains children ‘in violence and domination’, even when it’s moderate” (Saunders 1)...