Argumentative Essay On Spanking Children

Spanking is subjective in the least. Most parents suggest that using spankings as a form of discipline is essential to the development of a compliant child. For most Americans, this truth is one of the core foundations of the American model home. “70% of mothers indicated they had spanked their child at least once by the time he or she was 2-years-old” (Lee, Altschul and Gershoff, 2015.) There are numerous amounts of evidence that point to the certainty that spanking is linked to child aggression. In,

“Physical punishment of children: Can we continue to accept the status quo?” by Kim Oates is a scholarly source found in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. The author of this journal argues that discipline with physical punishment is not only inefficient, but it also causes problems in the emotional and behavioral development of children. He follows by providing practical forms of disciplining such as: removing privileges, teaching by example, having constant supervision, setting appropriate rules, and being consistent. Kim Oates states that those parents who use physical punishment to discipline their children, likely experienced it during their childhood and are usually unaware of these other methods of discipline. Oates included

why wouldn't we think that it would be “ok” to hit? Spanking is a Hypocrisy something

Even after years of research, the issue of whether spanking is an adequate discipline strategy or damaging to children remains a controversial topic. According to Kazdin and Benjet (2003) the definition of spanking is “. . . hitting a child with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intent to discipline without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm (p. 100). In addition, according to Maguire-Jack, Gromoske and Berger (2012) only a few studies propose that spanking is an effective form of discipline. On the other hand, there is more evidence to show that spanking is an unsuccessful form of discipline that can led to unwanted consequences (p. 1960). I personally do not take a stance in this topic because I can see valid points from both parties. Although, I believe that the way the punishment is presented to the child is extremely important. For example, I feel that the child should know why he or she is punished and what is expected of them thereafter.

The poll asked if a child less than one year old should be spanked. As a result, 81 percent of the mothers disagreed with spanking a child less than a year of age, and 19 percent believe a child under a year of age should be spanked (Jet 16). Then when asked if a child of 1-3 years old should be spanked, 26 percent disagreed with spanking at that age and an astounding 74 percent agreed with spanking a child of this age(Jet 16). When asked about the harshness of the spanking, 92 percent said they do not leave visible marks of damage while only eight percent say they do leave a mark upon the child (Jet 16). The results of both polls show consistent finding with the research of sociologist Richard J. Gelles, PhD, and director of the Family Violence Research Program at the University of Rhode Island. He Believes ?Hitting children is so taken for granted in out society that almost all parent view spanking as an inevitable part of raising children?(Working Mother 48). He believes this ideology will remain apart of our culture because it is infused within each of us since birth (Working Mother 48).

     There has been a shift of late from a more liberal mindset, to a more conservative one. With that change I have noticed a pattern. More and more parents I converse with are pro spanking, even going as far to brag about it. It is not uncommon to hear people talking about how their parents beat them when they were children, and how they believe they turned out better for it. But there are numerous other accounts of how people were scarred emotionally, and physically from such abuse. I have too many times seen parents beating their children at stores, parks, and other very public places. This creates a cycle. Children who are spanked turn into parents who spank. Spanking usually starts out as a light swat, but over time can turn into much more. Studies show that the longer a person uses this practice, the more severe it gets over time. Children can be extremely frustrating, and that frustration can lead a parent to overdo any type of discipline.

Spanking is a particular parenting behavior that I feel strongly about. In my particular case, my parents used spanking as disciplinary action if deprivation of privilege and time-out did not serve their purpose with my brothers and I. In these cases my parents would strike, or spank, our buttocks with an open palm to serve as a form of punishment. Although my parents did utilize spanking, they exhibited an authoritative parenting style where they promoted autonomy within reasonable limits (Bigner, 2013). I think that if spanking is used moderately and under these circumstances it can be an extremely effective form of discipline. Unfortunately, parents often abuse spanking resulting in numerous negative effects on children. Also, corporal punishment, such as spanking, is most often associated with authoritarian parenting styles. Authoritarian parents typically use forceful means to gain their child’s cooperation and obedience.

When someone becomes a parent they constantly worry about how their child will turn out, if they’ll raise their child correctly, and some people even obsess with wanting to use the best disciplinary methods on their children. Everyone has their own input, their own view, and their own opinion about how to parent a child correctly. Spanking is a universally debated topic. Many experts go against corporal punishment, but many parents still think that spanking is an effective discipline strategy. Should they do it? Is it effective? What are the consequences and the effects? Throughout my paper I will go over the many reasons as to parents should not spank their children.

I. Attention Getter: There have many opinions on how to discipline a child. One of the biggest disagreement is spanking children with some believing in it and other against it. Bennett (2015) says that even though the percent of people against spank have growth it still estimated that 70 to 90 percent of parents in the U.S. spank their children. II. Thesis: Spanking children as a punishment will not have bad effects on a children development.

One report shows that “physical punishment doesn’t improve children’s behavior in the long term.” Spanking your kids leads to many negative outcomes including mental health problems. There is even a greater risk for kids to have a serious injury when they are physically abused (“Discipline vs. Abuse”, 2016). Parents are likely to hit when they are angry. Being angry makes people go crazy. Parents could only mean to hit the kid a little, but end up really hurting the kid because they were angry.

Spanking children is a very controversial topic; there are people who agree with spanking and there are those who disagree. Everyone’s decision varies based on if they were spank or not spanked as children. After taking several courses in child development it is my belief that physical punishment actually alters the brain, it can traumatize a child, as well as have a decrease of gray matter in certain areas of the prefrontal cortex that have been linked to depression, addiction and other mental disorders. Which could be a leading cause for children growing up with higher risk of commenting a crime. Some may say there is no damage left on children and it can alter unwanted behavior affectedly. Regardless of the reason for what people stand behind when it comes to spanking, it is my belief every individual reacts different to being spanked. There are many elements that affect if the outcome is positive or negative. Spanking should only occur if a child is mentally capacity to understand it is a form or correcting unwanted behavior; followed by a firm lecture as to why the child got spanked. A child should know why they were spanked, furthermore, a parents’ goal should be to not resort to spanking. As a child, I was not spanked, nevertheless, I knew my parents could spank me; from witness childhood friends get spanked. The beliefs and values of American’s are that no one deserves corporal punishment, however, corporal punishment is practice in homes on children, corporal

Most parents want to raise their kids to be well disciplined. This can prove to be a challenging task, depending on the temperament of the child or children that they are raising. Therefore, spanking, a form of corporal punishment, becomes a parent’s way of disciplining their child. Today, the practice of spanking is not as widely accepted as it was in the past. The big question is whether or not this change in social norms is more or less effective in the lives of children?

I believe that spanking should be banned because spankings begun in anger can escalate into abuse. Even though physical punishment may create immediate compliance, there are long-terms side effects. For instance, spanking can create poorer mental health for both child and parent, lower quality of parent- child relationships, higher levels of delinquency, and more antisocial behavior. In addition, spanking teaches children that violence is an acceptable form of solution to problems by promoting an example of violent and aggressive behavior. However, culture has played an important role shaping childrearing practices and the way how people in different culture discipline their children.The healthcare professionals will tell parents that spanking

It goes without saying that most parents truly love their children and the use of corporal punishment such as spanking has serious unintended negative consequence on small children.

Parents should not spank their children because the parental spanking of children can be harmful to the behavioral and social development of their children. Parental spanking of children is a violent disciplinary technique where a parent hits children's behinds with an open hand or object in order to deter children's' behavior in a way the parents may perceive as negative. I grew up in a home where my parents spanked me and my three younger brothers. I have witnessed parental spanking of children practiced first hand. I have found that the parental spanking of children does not work as well as a lot of parents think it does. Whether a parent, teacher, or social worker, the parental spanking of children is important to have an empirically