Child Discipline Spanking Essay Research Paper Child

Child Discipline: Spanking Essay, Research Paper

Child Discipline: Spanking

Parents use discipline to teach their children the difference between right and wrong. The type of discipline parents use is entirely up to them but, “ninety percent of parents say that they have used [spanking] as a mean of discipline on their child, and most parents say that it was used on them when they were youngsters” (James). Spanking is a form of discipline that has been used by many parents; but it is now becoming the method that is being frowned upon by most doctors and many parents. “The American Academy of Pediatricians say that spanking might actually do more harm than good”(Eisenhauer), meaning that the spanking will not correct the problems that the child has, but only make them worse. In some countries around the globe, such as Norway and Sweden, elected officials have made it totally illegal for parents to spank their child. Since this happened Oakland, California has established an official “No Spanking Zone.” This proposes a question, is spanking a good form of discipline. From what the doctors say it certainly appears not to be and I think most parents tend to agree with them that spanking is not an acceptable form of discipline anymore. But according to the Critique of Anti-Spanking Study, found in Assertive Discipline, “experts do not all agree that spanking is harmful and some believe that mild spanking is a useful form of discipline” (Canter). Also the same study said “72% of people surveyed still find it acceptable to punish a child by spanking them” (Canter). These are very different conclusions than the one found by the other doctors and people asked above. Bringing the reader to the conclusion that all discipline is a form of opinion.

Most opinions still lean toward spanking being a form of abuse and that spanking a child is totally unacceptable because striking a young child will not actually teach them to be good. Spanking also hurts children mentally and spanking a child is no different from hitting some one else. The majority of parents that hit their kids are at the point of frustration and anger where they feel that spanking is the last thing left for them to do.

First, striking a child will not teach them to be good; it actually makes them change the way that they look at things. In fact Parents News says “spanking [children] may have some potentially long term effects such as increasing the misbehavior, aggression, violent or criminal behavior, impaired learning, depression, and in worst case suicide” (Kuttner 46). The items that are cited here are very alarming and they express the concern that spanking is more than just a punishment. As said before spanking “is the least effective way to discipline” a child for two reasons; both reasons teach the child nothing about the difference between right and wrong. The first fact is that spanking confuses the child. “How can they tell what [the spanking] means” (James). The reason that spanking confuses them is simply this; “parents are the example of the difference between right and wrong” (Edwards). Basically all spanking is doing is telling the child is that every time somebody does something wrong they should be smacked for the mistake they made. Secondly, spanking simply installs a sense of “fear and resentment” towards the parent. The only result that comes from making a child fear the parent is just reverse what is trying to be accomplished; discipline. On top of fearing the parent, the child will also lose respect for their parent and make the relationship between parent and child become very weak. “Discipline will not work if parents do not have a good relationship with their child” says Dr. Mark Wolraich (Canter). This quote just highlights how spanking a child will weaken the respect that is needed between child and parent. In turn, the child does not know that he/she did anything wrong because the child has no respect for the parent any more. These examples show how spanking does not teach the child to be good, but it changes the way that children approach things.

Secondly, hitting a child also hurts them mentally. Children that are spanked not only lose respect for their parents but they also lose respect in themselves. They start to believe that they are bad kids and they may also think that their parents do not like them. But not only are these children troubled at home by being spanked, they are also troubled at school: “There is some evidence from a British study that [children] may be less able to learn because physical punishment reduces a child’s I.Q.” (Burnett). This is one good example of how spanking is the wrong type of discipline because it show how the learning process is effected. The only thing that spanking helps children learn is that it is acceptable for them to use violence as a cure for any problem. Parents do not even know that they are mentally injuring their child as shown here: “although most parents who spank have good intentions, they may actually cause harm by training their children to deal with conflict by using violence” (Kuttner 48). Mental health is really affected by spanking because the child is confused between the difference of what is right and what is wrong. Spanking kids can also lead to mental problems down the road too. “The life stories of notorious individuals- Adolf Hitler amongst them- record excessive physical punishment during childhoo