Disciplinary Spanking Should Be Banned By Nadine Block

According to the World Health Organization, “Around 60% of children aged 2-14 years regularly suffer physical punishment from their parents or other caregivers”. A percentage this high is a daunting problem as children should be raised in positive environments that help them blossom into caring and compassionate adults. Corporal punishment, defined as a physical correction of behaviors, has long been integrated into our society. While there is a difference between corporal punishment and abuse, the former can cause trauma and damage to children's psyche, as does abuse. Parents share a common goal: to provide some form of discipline in order to correct unwanted behaviors. Parents’ techniques and approaches vary from family to family, but the

These ramifications have been researched and outlined in Nadine Block’s article, “Disciplinary Spanking Should Be Banned”. One of Block’s justifications for banning spanking is that there is a high potential for destructive and aggressive behaviors toward themselves and others, even outside of childhood. She examines research done on the effects that corporal punishment has on people as they move from childhood to adulthood. Upon this examination, Block finds that “Even infrequent and moderate spanking in childhood can have deleterious effects in adult life, including a greater likelihood of depression and other psychological problems.” Depression and psychological problems can lead to numerous issues, including failing in school, lack of social life, and a decrease in workplace performance. All these issues have the potential to cause a decrease in the quality of life and, therefore, should be minimized as much as possible. Some parents might argue that spanking does not cause harm. Betty Miller asserts that a child can benefit from spanking in most situations if it is corrective punishment and not abuse. This is a valid point, but extensive research shows

Pies, while discussing the impact spanking has on children, uses a study from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to show that “... although corporal punishment may have a high rate of immediate behavior modification, it is ineffective over time and is associated with increased aggression”. While spanking may bring about immediate results in terms of behavior modifications, the long-term ineffectiveness and association with negative behaviors point out the need for better techniques. Spanking stops the behavior temporarily, rather than providing opportunities for the child to grow and learn from their mistakes. If this continues, there is a chance that the child loses all trust in their parents, which can cause problems such as the child not wanting to obey commands in the future. In addition, the correlation between corporal punishment and increased aggression suggests a brutal cycle of negative behaviors. Rather than effectively mitigating destructive behaviors, children are being taught that violence is an acceptable means of conflict