The stresses of parenting are often times hard and relentless. With this in mind, many parents try their best to deal with those stresses and make the best of raising their children. This often-times requires disciplining, in order to end and/or curb bad behavior. Corporal punishment is one of these forms of discipline. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, corporal punishment is “punishment inflicted on a person's body” ("Corporal Punishment"). The most common form of corporal punishment is spanking which is often used to deal with child rearing or bad behavior (Knox and Brouwer 341-342). According to American Academy of Pediatrics, upwards of 90% of Americans spank their children infrequently (American Academy of Pediatrics 725). Furthermore, …show more content…
In fact, most clinical child physiologists do not believe in spanking and would never recommend it (Larzelere "Child Outcomes of Nonabusive…” 199). For this reason, many people have been looking for alternatives to spanking their children. Surveys show that a large number of parents spank their children in the heat of the moment and generally regret it afterwards (Meltz). This seems to be a reoccurring theme as 54% of mothers said that spanking was the wrong thing to do in at least half the times they used it (American Academy of Pediatrics 728). While 85% of parents say that they would rather not spank if they had an effective alternative (American Academy of Pediatrics 728). Recently, new ways of controlling children’s behavior have come to light and are now becoming more popular. A survey done in 2015 by Pew Research Center showed that %53 of parents claim that they have never spanked any of their children (Pew Research Center). So, with the data presented it is safe to say that there are other effective methods of controlling children without or limited use of corporal punishment. One of these methods has been well researched and seems to produce positive and/or neutral results is reasoning with the …show more content…
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, reasoning is “the ability of the mind to think and understand things in a logical way” ("Reasoning"). So, the goal is to get the child to understand or at least think about what he/she has done wrong. Sometimes, parents will raise their voice at their kids. In fact, most parents will yell at their child at some point (Morris). This is very ineffective when trying to reason with a child as tends to just shut them down (Arky). Furthermore, yelling has also been associated with lower self-esteem in children (Arky). One way to reason with a child effectively, without yelling, is to use a firm tone (Ramchandani). This lets the child understand he/she has done something wrong, but does not scare or shut him/her
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.
Have you ever been spanked as a kid and felt angry towards your parents? Did you feel they just hated you? Spanking is a form of corporal punishment which is a punishment intended to cause pain in many different ways. Corporal punishment started in slavery and led to schools and homes. Although many states have banned corporal punishment it is still allowed in 19 out of 50 states. Many adults will agree children just need a ‘good ol’e spanking’ and others will argue that it is a negative way to parent and causes more problems. Spanking children is not a proper way of parenting because it gives a negative effect on children.
The main reason that parents use spanking as a discipline technique is because it is what they received when they were children. However, in many cases spanking has nothing to do with helping the child. It is used as a quick solution to stop negative behavior with no real regard for the long-term outcome. Parents often spank their children because they themselves are angry. These parents simply cannot handle a situation and take it out on their child. Spanking might be more accepted if it was the only, or the most successful, form of discipline, but it is not. Spanking is simply a short-term fix of a child 's discipline problems. Two of the widely used alternatives to spanking are the time-out and restriction punishments. Time-out is most effective when administered to children under ten years of age, and a restriction mostly benefits children over ten years old. Both of these methods, while effective, also have a positive influence on the child, they teach the child discipline without the use of force, help the child
The more a child is spanked between the ages of 3 to 5 the more likely they will become aggressive (Online Psychology). Spanking can cause mental health problems and can have anti-social behavioral issues. Children that get spanked tend to defy their parents and have cognitive difficulties. When parents spank they think it is to help their child now what is right and wrong, but spanking has accidental detrimental outcomes. You don’t have to hurt a child to punish them, in 2014 about 80% of people spanked their kids. If the parent was spanked as a child the parent is more likely to support spanking
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
There are different outlooks on spanking. Sheree L. Toth, author of the CNN article “When does spanking become abuse?”(CNN) discusses her negative point of view on corporal punishment. In her article, she discusses how corporal punishment can have long-lasting effects on the mental state of the child and shift parental relationships with their children, all caused by the use physical discipline. “Corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects,” Toth states. She recognizes the effects that corporal punishment may have on individuals, and she disagrees with the uses of it. Toth also understands what the outcomes
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.
Spanking is a type of corporal punishment that is commonly used to discipline children. Without producing any physical injury, the parent will normally strike the child’s bottom with their open hand, belt, or a switch (which is normally a tiny off a tree) for inappropriate 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
A mission statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) describes spanking as "striking a child with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intention of modifying behavior without causing physical injury." 94% of 3 and 4-year-olds have been spanked at least once this year. 74% of mothers believe spanking is acceptable for children ages 1-3. 61% of parents condone spanking as a “regular form of punishment” for young children. It is clear that many
About 90 percent of parents admit to spanking their children (Ogilvie 1). Studies were conducted that showed the more parents spanked their children, the more likely the children would hit their parents. Spanking is traumatic for children, imagine someone three times your size began hitting you with all out rage. In most cases spanking is not done correctly, parents often display spanking as out of frustration, not concern. Ogilvie stated that, “In a study I published in the Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review in 2005, I found that when used correctly, spanking leads to lower defiance and lower aggression than 10 or 13 other disciplinary alternatives with which it has been compared.”
Since the birth of the nation, Americans have debated about the topic of spanking children for discipline. Parent’s waver back and forth for a while it is okay and expected that they will discipline the children by using corporal punishment. Then over the years everything changes and now it’s no longer acceptable. It will be the center of many heated debates and will continue to be so as long as we have parents and as long as they raise children. In the long run parent’s will find out if spanking turned out to be a strength or a weakness but for the immediate future, it’s something America needs to go back to using for guidance purposes. Spanking when used as a form of discipline and not abuse is an effective tool. The use of spanking has
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.
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