Childhood Discipline: African American Vs. White American

Spanking is a fiercely debated social issue in many countries, such as the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, and Germany. There are questions over what intensity of pain is suitable until it crosses the threshold into abuse. Up until the mid-20th century it was perfectly okay in most communities for a spanking to cause a child to cry in pain throughout and have difficulty sitting down afterward, even resulting in stripes or bruises for days. Nowadays several think even mere redness of the skin abusive, while others would call it effective discipline. This causes questions as to whether children should be spanked. In addition, whether spanking is an effective method of discipline and at what point does it constitutes child abuse.

One of the most controversial topics is the difference between child abuse and child discipline. Abuse is any action that intentionally harms or injures another person. Discipline is punishment that is intended to correct or train. Some parents do not see the harm in their form of discipline, but others may view it as abuse. It may not be the parent’s intention to harm their child but it is something that occurs. “In 2012, state agencies found an estimate 686,000 of child maltreatment.” .*(*Kids Count) Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children (a report can include multiple children).

“Spanking is a part of black culture” (Williams, 2011). LaShaun Williams writes in a New York Times piece that corporal punishment “is as much a part of black culture as fried chicken and Kool-Aid” (2011, para. 3). So it seems this may be something black parents just do. According to Ray, “Black parents may be supported by family and friends because they believe spanking instills respect for their children’s interactions with authority figures” (Ray, 2012, para. 2). It is socially and culturally acceptable for black parents to implement corporal punishment. But

The challenges African American, Native Americans, Hispanic, and Asian American face regardless of their social class is that African American women are more likely to use corporal punishment on their children than the European American. This form of punishment is looked as you are a caring parent and is expected and acceptable among their peers when your child is acting up. African Americans are still susceptible to implicit bias in regards to discrimination. They also have to durty to make sure their children understand where they come from and embrace who they and love who they are. Native Americans are more relax way of parenting. They allow children to solve their own problems and do not interr (239). They use more of emotional taunting

African Americans agree with spanking more often than Whites (Flynn 1994). Bradley (1998) found the opposite attitudes about spanking. African American parents preferred to use nonphysical forms of discipline. African American parents are more authoritative when it comes to discipline. Corporal punishment was only used if the parent’s power was tested. When the child test the power of a parent a form of deviance has occurred. If physical punishment occurs a belt, or spanking with an open hand is used (Bradley, 1998). Individual rates differ for who agree with spanking a child. African American rates range from 56.4% to 81.8%. Whites rates range from 30.8% to 56.9%. When it comes to the 3-4-year-old group no significant race differences in attitudes

Currently, 24 countries have banned the practice of spanking children; labeling it child abuse. However, in America 49 states permit physical punishment by parents (Gershoff). There are mandates that define appropriate physical punishment, but there is truly no appropriate way to hit a child. Parents often resort to spanking in an effort to control their child’s behavior. It is true that most children will immediately respond to the pain that is inflicted upon them and stop the bad behavior. However, it is proven to make children more aggressive towards others. Furthermore, it is not worth the risk of causing life altering psychological impairments. Instead parents should focus on non-violent forms of discipline, such as positive reinforcement and redirection or time-out. Spanking may give parents the immediate satisfaction of changed behavior, but it is not worth the life-time of damaging

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?

The study did not tell how severe the punishment was it was simply reporting whether the child was spanked via hand or other object. The researchers did find that there were trends towards corporal punishment not being used later on. Parenting styles also are factors on how a child will be disciplined they found that when a child is harshly disciplined the child’s social skills are drastically diminished because they do not feel accepted by their parents. (Graham)They also saw that cultural beliefs were very tightly linked to the child’s punishment they found that Hispanic parents tend to have an authoritarian parenting style so they were more likely to abuse their children but when they studied African American families they found that the punishment affected the children more emotionally than physically.

The theory of discipline has been debated for decades. Arguments over how it should be carried out and how harsh it should be has been discussed. One aspect of discipline has been shoved into the dark, the effect on the child. No matter how much it is spoken of children remember what happened to them in their childhood. Whether they were pleasant or not can lead to problems later in life. One debate that shall soon be settled deals with the spanking of children.

Spanking a child is not against the law in most places. However, parents who use it in their homes are being accused of child abuse. The Chicago Tribune published an article that urged readers to report child abuse when they become aware of it. In the article “Child abuse in plain View” the author describes spanking as a type of abuse that happens behind closed doors (“Child abuse in plain View”). Like most critics of corporal punishment, the author is trying to link spanking to abuse. The author`s concern about abuse is a valid one. Abuse should be reported immediately. However, any attempt to define spanking as abuse is wrong. Spanking a child is not abuse. It is an effective way of discipline that helps guide the child into becoming a respectful and responsible person.

What is the reason for discipline? We take our lead from one noteworthy source, our guardians and they probably took their lead from their own particular folks. At the point when your young youngster imitates what he simply found in a Rambo film, you give him a stern address about what is genuine and what is not, what is adequate, in actuality, and what is most certainly not. At the point when your kid tries some insane aerobatic leave a bit of furniture and damages himself, you may hit him to make sure that he recalls never to do it again.

Every parent is different in how they raise their children. The set manner with which a parent decides to raise its child would be their parenting style. There are various parenting styles. In a household where an authoritarian parent reigns strict rules are set forth and expected to be followed explicitly, orders are given often without a reason just an explanation that they must be followed; in these homes children have very little rights with great amounts of responsibility. Authoritative parents, on the other hand, still have consistent rules which the reasoning's for are typically explained, however love and care for the children are well

Discussion about corporal punishment is everywhere. It is in the news and in the home, and in education on what is punishment and what is abuse is beginning to rise. Corporal punishment has been used as a disciplinary tool for parents throughout all of America's history (Gershoff, 2002, p. 1). However, the definition of what corporal punishment actually is, is still unclear to some people and parents. In Wendy Walsh's essay, "Spanker and Nonspankers: Where They Get Information on Spanking," she defines corporal punishment as "the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, for purposes of correction or control of the

“You’re going to get it when we get home!” “Stop It, Right Now!” “Sit in the Time-Out Chair for 10 minutes until you can behave!” These are all phrases that have been used by parents whether they believe in corporal punishment or non-corporal punishment. Children have ways of pushing their parent’s buttons whether it is verbally or by things that they do or do not do when they are told. Parents then become frustrated, angry, exasperated, or even embarrassed and begin to administer some type of discipline to correct the behavior. The correction, many times, is dependent upon the location of the bad behavior, for instance, whether it is at home or in a public setting. Is a parent spanking their child wrong whether it is at home or in public? Will it cause developmental or psychological issues? Is there a difference in spanking and beating or are both forms child abuse? Is spanking more effective for children of certain ages? Controversy abounds regarding the use of corporal punishment by a parent as a means of disciplining a child. Comparing the differences in corporal punishment versus non-corporal punishment will allow each parent to decide which will work best for their family. After analyzing key components of both punishments, corporal punishment has been effective for many years, and when used correctly, can still be very beneficial to families today.

My perspective on this is that discipline has no gender or color. Childhood development stages are phases every child passes through at one time or another, almost with the same level of innocent stupidity. Correcting innocent stupidity should not bring any harm to any child. There are other workable and result oriented alternatives to corporal punishment. With my position as a Mom, I have come to figure out that starting early enough to apply alternative to corporal punishment yields very positive result. The use of corporal punishment in homes and schools has been widely debated. Corporal punishment is harmful to children. It could lead to emotional, psychological and physical problems.