Laura Markham's Should You Spank Your Child?

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,

A recent study shows 70 percent of parents believe it is right to discipline a child through physical means. Most commonly, parents will spank their children but being hit with things like belts or other objects happens as well. Parenting methods haven’t changed much with time and discipline in similar no matter the country. With more studies out to find the most effective method of parenting and discipline it’s coming to attention whether or not physical harm is the best way to teach children. Parents want what is best for their children, so it is important to constantly bring up and question methods commonly accepted in the past. One method that is becoming more controversial is spanking children. Though it is still considered normal to do, it is gaining more traction and more studies are being done to find the problems it causes. Checking on parenting methods can be difficult as everyone is raised differently. It is also difficult to test which forms of punishment lead to certain outcomes. However, there is a trend of negative effects from hitting. Gershoff acknowledges, “several national professional organizations have called on parents to abandon spanking as a child rearing practice and for professionals to recommend disciplinary alternatives to spanking.” Spanking children is a terrible discipline method as it has negative effects.

Child discipline is an important part of parenthood. It is challenging for adults to manage children’s behaviors and find the correct lessons that will benefit their children. According to the research performed by Flynn (1998), most parents in the United States agree that "it is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a good, hard spanking" (p.26). Socolar et al. performed research which agreed that “corporal punishment of children persists—roughly fifty percent of the parents of toddlers in the United States use corporal punishment as a regular method of disciplining their children.” (as cited in Gershoff, 2010, p.32). That is not to say that physical punishment is the solution as it can stop a behavior immediately but the results

Jordan Riak, leader of Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education, once said, “Spanking does for a child's development what wife-beating does for a marriage.” Spanking has become a highly accepted form of child abuse in today’s society. Spanking can lead to psychological and mental struggles, behavioral and violence issues, lower cerebral capacities, and less remorse for wrongdoings as an adult. So why are we still choosing to hit our children? It is impossible for children to learn from their mistakes from spanking. The reasoning and understanding portion of their brain shuts down due to fear. However, when approached about their behavior verbally and when the issue is worked through reasonably with

To spank or not to spank has been a question for parents for many years. Some believe that spanking is the only way that children will learn to be obedient. They believe in the motto “spare the rod, spoil the child”, meaning if parents do not physically discipline, the child is spoiled and lacks manners. Others, however, believe that exerting physical harm on a child for discipline does not make sense. They believe that there is always a better way to teach children right from wrong. Spanking is not an effective form of discipline and can lead to improper behavior.

The issue of spanking has become an important social controversy over the past few decades. As a result, some people are bringing out some negative opinions against spanking. One of them argues spanking is really unnecessary and not effective when parents disciple their sons and daughters because it might not be helpful directly changing children’s wrong behaviors result in parents’ abuse and family violence. On the other hand, I do not agree with that because parents’ discipline when a child got mistake is supposed to be under a type of affection toward them, so people would know parents rarely spank them either to express their anger or to beat them severely. Sometimes people may not agree with them, but we need to remember that parents only

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.

Parents have been finding new ways to discipline their children for decades, but one form of child rearing has endured through out the years as the go to punishment, spanking. Although spanking children has been around for a long time, it is a form of abuse used to punish bad behavior in children, the term spanking dissociates hitting kids and abusing them. Spanking children is extremely popular in the United States with almost all parents participating in this cruel behavior. Giles-sims, a Professor of Family Sociology at Texas Christian University quotes a study that says, “99% of parents had spanked 5-year-old children at least once” (Giles-sims, 170). The reason spanking is so common is because there is a lot of misinformation about how spanking effects kids. Parents do not know what spanking will do to the psychology of the child or the relationship they have with their children. For that reason, Parents should not discipline their children through spanking because spanking can have adverse effects on children’s relationship with parents and other children.

When the choice is made to use spanking as a disciplinary method, children are often left with more negative psychological results than parents intend. Parental behavior is the supposed to be an example to children of what love looks

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

Parenting is one of the hardest jobs in the world. Children don’t come home from the hospital with an instruction manual and only so much information can be acquired from parenting books at the local bookstore. Discipline can especially be a hard subject for new parents, considering that there is no real “right” way to punish your children for bad behaviors. Spanking is a commonly used strategy to combat childhood wrongdoing. Spanking has been used as a disciplinary tool in reportedly 90% of American families (Wolraich et al.). Spanking and corporal punishment has a high prevalence in American society. Although spanking is seen as acceptable by the majority, this does not mean that spanking is good for the child. Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff, a developmental psychologist, asserts, “There is little research evidence that physical punishment improves in the long term. In contrast, there is substantial research evidence that physical punishment puts children at risk for negative

Spanking, also known as corporal punishment is a highly controversial method of discipline that parents currently use in an attempt to modify their children’s misbehavior. This type of punishment is not known to uplift the essence of education in children, and many parents and researchers feel that spanking leads to developmental problems. Research studies show how spanking produces a negative effect in children, and parents and caregivers should reconsider the use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline for their children because of its harmful effects. In addition, there are other, better alternatives that can be used to discipline children.

Spanking has been a controversial topic among many parents. Some believe it is just a form of discipline and is okay, while others believe that this is abuse or violence and it will harm the child in the long run.

Child abuse is a complex, surreptitious social problem that has been around for as long as humanity itself. The collective consequences of childhood abuse and spanking can be detrimental and are reflected in addictive behaviors, dysfunctional family dynamics and mental health problems in general. Can the commonly used practice of corporal punishment and spanking be justified as an appropriate method to discipline children?

Many studies have come out with negative effects that can come about from using many forms of corporal punishment. As parents we need to ask ourselves are we able to control ourselves when we are upset at our kids? Are we able to be fair to our kids? Can the things we do to our children come back and turn out to be used against us and others? “Corporal punishment