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Definition Of Child Abuse

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When I was growing up the term child abuse was rarely heard or talked about publically. The definition of corporal punishment is physical punishment, as spanking, inflicted on a child by an adult in authority. I could easily get a spanking in school by the teacher, and get another one when I got home. I grew up in the early eighties and I can remember a few of the spankings I received. One that I will never forget is the one I got for starting small fires in my grandmothers back yard. I don’t know why I was so obsessed with fire as a child but I was. The one time I was caught my grandmother made me go to the tree and get a switch. The one I came back with was insufficient. She looked at it and made me go back and get a bigger one. Yes, it …show more content…

I didn’t watch television that much as a child because I was to busy playing outside with my friends. If they talked about it I missed it. I never heard adults talk about child abuse either. Spanking should not be used for every little discrepancy. When I got on it was because I really needed it. Most of the time I just got yelled at or sent to my room. That was worse than the spanking because I wanted to go outside and play. There were no video games back then so staying in was like Chinese water torture. During the holidays I had family that would visit from New Jersey and we stayed in trouble. Unlike my cousins I would just take mine and get it over with. They would run from my grandmother and hope she would forget. Needless to say she never did. She would not chase them around but would get them when they least expected it. I would much rather take a spanking over being on punishment. That only last for a few seconds and I was ok with that. I don’t spank my kids often but when its time they know that I’m going to take care of business. My grandmother would use a switch or belt. I use my hand because I don’t need any outside help. The reason spankings are effective is because a child will think about the last one they got before they decide to do something wrong. In their mind they decide weather its worth it. Most of the time they will make the right choice. Some parents put kids on time out and hope that it works. My problem with that is there is no real punishment. If I do something wrong and I know all I am going to get is a time out I am doing what I want. Time out can be used but should not be the meat and potatoes of a child’s punishment. Its been a long time since I have had to spank one of my kids and all I have to do is remind them of the last one and there are no more problems. Some think that a spanking is just a quick fix. I disagree because

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