Corporal Punishment and Children

To spank or not to spank? The topic of corporal punishment is a controversial and sensitive matter in our society. No matter what day in age we live in it will continue to be a social problem. Corporal punishment, also referred to as spanking is deliberately inflicting pain on a person due to an inappropriate behavior or act they have done. This involves hitting, pinching, using switch cords, smacking, and etcetera. Those who are in favor of corporal punishment and believes that it should not be illegal, uses scriptures from the bible as justification. Supporters of corporal punishment feels as if spanking is an effective way to manage behavior. Those who are against spanking points out the negative, psychological issues, and mental

The use of corporal punishment by a parent is currently legal in every state in the U.S., and nineteen states still allow its use by teachers and administrators in schools. GOOD START Although it is legal, corporal punishment is constantly accused of being child abuse. Child abuse is defined as the physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or exploitation, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child under the age of eighteen. Some people believe that all corporal punishment should be considered child abuse, others believe that corporal punishment should not be considered child abuse at all, while still others think that some corporal punishment is child abuse, and some is not. Ultimately, corporal punishment should not be considered child abuse if it is mild and is used to discipline wrong behavior.

Did you know that Corporal Punishment is legal in 21 states in the united states, but not in the other 29 states, and it’s only used in 13 of those 21 states. I believe that Corporal Punishment should be allowed in every state in the united states because, it helps kids learn better, it takes stress of teachers, and it teaches kids discipline.

It is common knowledge that children learn from what they are taught in school and at home. What is spanking teaching our children? According to L.D. Eron “spanking models aggressive behavior as a solution to conflict and has been associated with increased aggression in preschool and school children.” (Guidance for Effective Discipline, online) The consequences of spanking does not just effect the children, but also the world around them. Expert P. Cohen says that “spanking has been associated with higher rates of physical aggression, substance abuse, increased risk of crime and violence.”(Guidance for Effective Discipline, online) Consequently, the people in today’s society who are not wanted on the streets are being taught to be this was by their own parents. Taking a look at kids who were spanked, as these kids transition into adults they are reported to have more anger. This increases the chance that they will spank their own children and put them at risk for abuse. (Guidance for Effective Discipline, online) Is spanking your child really worth it? Many parents will say “this is the only way to teach them a lesson” but look at the messages the parents are sending their children. Repeatedly spanking your child can cause aggression and turmoil. This will lead to broken child-parent relationships. According to A.M. Graziano in her article Sub-abusive Violence in Child Rearing in Middle-class

Living in the twenty-first century you rarely ever see someone spank their child or hear the word spank come out of a parent’s mouth. I see too many parents today that are too self-righteous to “spank” their children, because many people see spanking as form of abuse. Many parents in today’s world use more reasonable punishments for their misbehaving children. Some parents put their children in time-outs, deny them of their freedom, take toys away and ground them. I have seen parents use these methods because there are more reasonable ways of punishing their child for being disobedient. However, not everybody in today’s world uses these methods for punishing children; some parents use the act of spanking for punishment. Spanking was a popular punishment back in the 1900s, but is a very debatable topic in today’s society.

According to Dr. Peter Newell “ all people have the right to protect of their physical integrity, and children are people too”(pg.7). Punishment distracts the child from learning how to resolve conflict in an effective and humane way. As the educator John Holt says “ when we make a child afraid, we stop them from learning dead in it’s track”. This is important because, spanking your children will leave them in huge shock for no matter how long and their would probably spaced out. Spanking send shock waves to your child putting them in shock and fear from you. Many children are paralyzed through nerve damage from spanking.This will hinder the establishment of meaningful relationships so essential to an emotionally fulfilling

While reading Cleverley & Phillips ' Visions of Childhood I found that many views of the past relating to corporal punishment have changed significantly. During my readings I read things that instantly stood out to me. The first being how many issues and their solutions revolved around religion. John Wesley, was the founder of the Methodist Movement, and he believed that children were born with sin and that it was the parental duty to discipline the unruly child, starting at an early age. During this time period, corporal punishment was a common practice. Wesley used reference to the Bible verse in Proverbs to declare, “Spare the rod, spoil the child”, (Cleverly and Phillips, 1986) in turn parents believed they were doing God’s will with their harsh punishments.

Corporal Punishment is a physical form of punishment where a person inflicts pain to punish another; when someone commits a crime. There are different variations of physical pain; such as spanking, paddling, or caning, which is given to parents, guardians, school officials, or other officials. There are other types of physical pain, in ancient times, people would inflict pain by flogging; whipping, branding and amputation. It is now known today as a source of punishment in the legal system, and in homes of citizens. Corporal Punishment still exists today are in the United States, Japan, England, and China.

One global subject of controversy is the use of corporal punishment – punishment inflicted on a child’s body by an adult in authority (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2005). Although it is a global topic of debate, many cultures find their citizens disagreeing among themselves. In a 2016 study, Anthony Ngo examined the effects of parents using corporal punishment. The 2016 sample consisted of 100 Chinese families that immigrated to the United States, and it was found that over 80% of them used corporal punishment and thought it was a fair way of disciplining their child. As for why they were using corporal punishment, many parents cited the feeling of stress as immigrants, changes in social status, and a lack of language proficiency as contributing

I feel that teachers who apply corporal punishment don’t know how to deal with children in an acceptable manner, they don’t possess the necessary tools to deal with the situation. They don’t follow the ethical code of SACE and take matters into their own hands. I feel that they use this tactic to scare children instead of engaging with them in a caring manner because they don’t have a passion for teaching and developing children. Sometimes teaching is just another job to

Using positive reinforcement with children is imperative when teaching them correct behavior. Children seek out the approval of the parents or guardians in their life. Part of being a good parent is knowing when to show disapproval of bad behavior and reward good behavior. Remember that positive reinforcement acknowledges the good behavior in a child without focusing on their not so great performance. The two types of reinforcements that are used with children are verbal and physical.

A physical punishment, or in other words physical discipline, inflicted by adult partakers aimed to impose physical pain on minors. Minors are persons under a specific age, generally under the age of majority, the age of adulthood, that is standardized or stated by law. For example, in Ontario, Canada, the age of majority is set at 18, but in other Canadian provinces and territories the age of majority differs. Corporal punishment can be inflicted by partakers in home, schools or other locations to reinforce discipline. There are many ways in which corporal punishments can be inflicted by such as spanking the buttocks of a minor with bare hands, or with sharp objects, flogging, whipping, beating, etc.

When having to deal with an unruly child and all else has failed, corporal punishment can be an effective parenting tool as well as a last resort. Now, some would believe that, no matter the reasoning, it is detrimental to a child and their psychology to experience corporal punishment. Not only just that, but that it does not truly instill the lesson behind the initial reasoning for spanking the child. It would appear as though an adult could not control their temper and just had to strike the child. The opposing side would argue that it just causes the child to feel resentment towards their parents and to act out even more. Jennifer E. Lansford, a research professor whose research focuses on the development of aggression and other behavior problems in youth, wrote in Physical Discipline and Children’s Adjustment: Cultural Normativeness as a Moderator, parenting behaviors and the way that children adjust are entirely dependent upon the contexts of the situation that the behavior was displayed in. Therefore, it is all about the message that the parent is trying to send when disciplining their child by spanking them. If the parent speaks with the child in a calm manner and explains to them why they were punished instead of simply just hitting them, then a better understanding of the situation is

Spanking children, in many cases, increases misbehavior. As studies have shown, “The more children are hit, the more likely they are to hit others, including peers and siblings and, as adults, they are more likely to hit their spouses” (“Spanking”). When parents hit their children, it teaches them that it is acceptable to hit others. Spanking teaches children that physical punishment is a method to exercise power over others, to “teach them a lesson”, and to get their way. Additionally, “…children who are spanked regularly are more likely to be aggressive,” (Cuddy and Reeves). If a method for controlling behavior is causing an increase in aggression, this method should not be considered effective or acceptable. In connection to the added misbehavior and

Discipline is one of the basic things a child learns from his parents before he or she faces the outside world to learn more about life as a whole. Teaching this trait can depend on how the parent shows it to their child and how they explain the importance of having this trait both in and out of their homes. Misbehaving children cannot be avoided as they are curious little beings and they have a tendency to explore. But there are some parents, even teachers, who do not tolerate misbehaving and they resort to corporal punishments such as spanking to make sure the child never forgets how painful it is to misbehave as they will remember the punishment entailed to it and become more disciplined. However, not all children would understand the