If your adult neighbor engaged in offensive or irritating behavior, would you hit him or her? You probably wouldn’t. What if that neighbor had less than average adult physical or mental abilities? You would probably be even less likely to hit them then. If you love that neighbor as a family member, hitting them would seem like an even worse way of dealing with the situation. Now imagine this is your child, typically a person of less than average adult abilities and a person you love as a family member. Would you hit your child? This is the type of decision many parents struggle with making.
The common view of most psychologists is that parents should not spank their children. The American Psychological Association (APA) opposes the use of corporal punishment in schools, juvenile facilities, child care nurseries and all other institutions, public or private, where children are cared for or educated. This includes the institution of the family. Spanking can escalate toward physical abuse, potentially injuring the child, and can contribute to later emotional and behavior problems, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. It’s also less effective than alternative disciplinary tactics, and it’s a hard habit to break, the organization also says. During the last decade, studies have shown that children who get spanked are more likely than their peers to display behavior and emotional problems later in life. The more frequently they’re spanked, the more harmful the consequences tend to be. As far back as 1950, psychologists began experimenting with the idea that physical force used against a child taught the child to be aggressive. In other words, spanking taught the child to hit others. The more children are spanked,...
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Corporal punishment signals to the child that a way to settle interpersonal conflicts is to use physical force and inflict pain. Such children may in turn resort to such behavior themselves. They may also fail to develop trusting, secure relationships with adults and fail to evolve the necessary skills to settle disputes or wield authority in less violent ways. Supervising adults who will fully humiliate children and punish by force and pain are often causing more harm than they prevent. If corporal punishment isn’t harming to children, then why is outlawed in many states? Of course, not all studies about corporal punishment have been proven, but isn’t there enough that have been proven to get people to quit spanking their children. I am not a parent, but if there was any doubt in my mind that something was bad for my child, I know I would stop.
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.
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.
As the world is changing so are peoples view on many things money, religious views and how to discipline children. In the 20th century it was not uncommon for parents to use spanking to control their child’s behavior. Now a day’s parents have been arrested for spanking their children and it listed as child abuse. It is not illegal to spank your children. Parents must use discipline to teach children right from wrong. Some opinions still lean toward spanking being a form of abuse and that spanking a child is unacceptable because striking a young child will not actually teach them to be good. Some say spanking also hurts children mentally and spanking a child is no different from hitting someone else. Parent should have the choice to use spanking
Corporal punishment is considered as an act of violence against children, and it includes any use of physical punishment in response to misbehavior. Corporal punishment has been associated with child abuse, aggression, delinquency, moral internalisation, antisocial behavior, mental health, and perpetration of the spouse and child abuse. This study explored the trends in corporal punishment among the three to eleven year old children due to they are the group age that is most likely to be subjected to corporal punishment
A parent’s right to spank their child has been an issue of great debate for a long time. On one side of the debate are people who feel that to strike a child in any way automatically constitutes abuse. The opposing side believes that parents are within their legal and, more importantly, their moral rights to discipline their child as they see fit. As one can imagine, the former are routinely portrayed to be overly humanistic and ultra-liberal, while the latter are almost always smeared as right-wing bible thumpers and uneducated miscreants.
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.
Three reasons why people do not believe in spanking are spanking can cause harmful side effects, spanking is no more effective than other punishments, and spanking promotes violence in children. Some harmful side effects that could possibly be caused by spanking are children suffering from depression, being inferior in their school performance, or having problems later on in life. It is impossible to see side effects because they are not usually revealed immediately. People also believe that spanking cannot be proven to be more effective than any other punishment. They think parents can use other positive and nonviolent punishments to show children their actions were wrong without subjecting the children to the detrimental effects of spanking. Spanking can also be perceived as contradictory to teaching nonviolent behaviors to children. (1) It can reinforce negative memories and violence can be passed down through generations. A study that was published in a journal about child development was done with small children. It concluded that by the age of one, children that were spanked al...
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.
We have all encountered this situation: A small child is standing in the middle of a department store throwing a complete temper tantrum demanding a toy. His mother, exasperated threatens him with time-outs and other deprived privileges, but the stubborn child continues to kick and scream. In the "old days," a mother wouldn't think twice about marching the defiant child to the bathroom and giving him a good spanking to straighten him out, but these days, parents have to worry about someone screaming child abuse. Whether or not to spank a child has become a heated issue in today's society.
The Chicago Tribune author wrote, “Make no mistake: hitting a child hurts, not just physically, but psychologically” (“Child Abuse in Plain View”)...
"Spanking doesn 't work, and it just makes kids mistrustful and aggressive. What we 're teaching them is fear rather than responsibility and problem-solving." said Kimberly Sirl, a clinical psychologist at St. Louis Children 's Hospital (Blythe). This is important because parents need to understand spanking doesn 't work and it results that the child becomes aggressive and mistrustful. Parents are trying to teach their child a lesson but instead making them fearful. Children will be aggressive and think violence is the answer to everything. The point of spanking is to teach the child what they did was wrong but kids don 't get that message when they get physically abused. It teaches them the wrong lesson and they think that it 's okay to spank kids so when they get older they will probably do the same thing. Corporal punishment of a child by a caregiver is legal in every state, but it crosses the line to abuse when a child is injured. Doctors and teachers are required to report to authorities any marks, bruises, cuts or other injuries inflicted on a child (Blythe). Anyone who is a caregiver of a child is legally allowed to hit the child. It only becomes an issue or problem when the child is left with bruises, marks, and injuries. If a doctor or teacher were to see any type of bruise on the child they are required to report it. There is spanking a
...bad behavior. However, I cannot completely agree with physical punishment. It is largely because the effects of corporal punishment are just temporary. Also, according to studies, physical punishment has had a bad effect on students such as students imitating the corporally-punishing behavior of their parents or teachers and reducing self-esteem and the IQ of children. Corporal punishment can be abused as well. Most teachers are now using corporal punishment out of anger instead of using it to correctly change behavior of students. Spanking children is an action that goes against the times and it is time for a change in the world. Corporal punishment isn’t the best way to discipline children. There are other ways like encouragement and consultation. All in all, I can say without hesitation that we should find other means of discipline instead of corporal punishment.
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.
Secondly, corporal punishment in schools should not be permitted is because it can lead to harmful effects in a student’s health. Because according to Science Daily “a child in a school that uses corporal punishment has performed worst in tasks involving executive functioning-- such as, for example: planning, abstract thinking, and delaying gratification.” In addition, according to Social Development, “harshly punitive environm...