Corporal punishment, or the act of hitting a child as punishment, has been a topic of debate for many decades now and even though media and most of the country frown upon it, it is still legal in all 50 states. So why is Corporal Punishment still legal? Well, According to the Massachusetts Supreme judicial court, as long as the hitting is “light”, meant to safeguard the child’s well being, and causes no harm, then it's deemed acceptable. While many parents have accepted this outcome that does not mean the supreme court is correct. GPO.GOV shows a multitude of supreme court cases that were overturned; therefore, the supreme court is not a credible source for moral standpoints. So the question stands; Should corporal punishment be illegal? …show more content…
A child who receives physical punishment will believe that hitting is an effective form of problem-solving; in consequence, the child will learn to become violent. From the point of view of the average person, the harm caused by spanking will go away quickly, but that is wrong; the effects of spanking can do an outrageous amount of harm internally. According to Dartmouth.EDU, “Several important nerves from the sacral plexus either supply or traverse the gluteal region”; Which are the Superior Gluteal Nerve and the Sciatic Nerve, which is the largest nerve in the body. These nerves are very important as well as be very vulnerable to damage. The effects of the permanent damage done to these nerves far outweigh the disciplinary uses of spanking. According to Cancer.gov, damage to nerves can create motor problems; Such as, weak muscles, loss of balance, and difficulty to do simple actions. Another popular to hit area is the hands. According to NoSpank.net, the hands have no underlying protective tissue, which makes the ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels highly vulnerable. A defense of corporal punishment could be that a person could just avoid hitting these areas, except that is immediately rebutted by the fact that nerves are all over the body. Although a parent’s goal in using corporal punishment is to teach a child morals, that is not what actually happens. When a child’s only consequence for doing
This article is credible due to several reasons. One of these reasons is that the article is still recent dating back about 5 years ago. Also, the article is written by a professor at the University of Texas who specializes in corporal punishment and and children making the author very credible. Finally, the article is supported by numerous sources and contains more than just three paragraphs.
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
In particular, when a child is struck for hurting another child, it actually shows that through aggression that they can become the aggressor and get what they want, usually a ‘child is more likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour in the long-term.’ (Gershoff, 2010). Actions like this tend to result in abusive behaviour flowing through to teenage years and even adulthood as it allows them to get exactly what they want. The use of corporal punishment by parents is used with the intention of making a child change their actions immediately and to reduce it occurring again, although this has been proven to be only be as effective as almost any other measure. The other aspect of psychological changes are the likes of mental health issues, given the violent aspects of corporal punishment. Studies have found that ‘the more frequently or severely children are spanked or hit, the more likely they are to have symptoms of depression or anxiety.’ (Gershoff, 2010). The circumstances around the development of these issues being caused by the action of punishing a child in this manner suggests that the best scenario is to not allow it to take place anymore. There are so many other options to use when disciplining a child that for these to still be considered pliable even with these dangers is not reasonable. Studies also suggest that the use of corporal
Spanking is a fiercely debated social issue in many countries, such as the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, and Germany. There are questions over what intensity of pain is suitable until it crosses the threshold into abuse. Up until the mid-20th century it was perfectly okay in most communities for a spanking to cause a child to cry in pain throughout and have difficulty sitting down afterward, even resulting in stripes or bruises for days. Nowadays several think even mere redness of the skin abusive, while others would call it effective discipline. This causes questions as to whether children should be spanked. In addition, whether spanking is an effective method of discipline and at what point does it constitutes child abuse.
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
Another way that a people who have been spanked are affected is depression.Although several studies have been shown trying to prove one way or another there have been any solid evidence linked to depression to spanking. But, spanking has been linked to high levels of stress which would lead a person to
Spanking, also referred to as corporal punishment, is defined as: an act of slapping, especially on the buttocks as a punishment for children. According to Alvin Poussaint, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, at Harvard Medical School, “Researchers have found that children who are spanked show higher rates of aggression and delinquency in childhood than those who were not spanked. As adults, they are more prone to depression, feelings of alienation, use of violence toward a spouse, and lower economic and professional achievement. None of this is what we want for our children” (Poussaint 17). Corporal punishment in U.S. homes is lawful in all 50 states, and 19 of those states still allow spanking in schools, which causes a multitude of issues. In likeness, many other countries have made spanking illegal because it engenders negative physical, emotional, and cognitive effects on children; there are many effective and harmless alternatives to corporal punishment.
Physical punishment as a mode of behavior correction is a controversial issue amongst both professionals and society. The meta-analysis of research studies can be found to support and oppose the efficacy of spanking as an ideal or effective form of modifying maladaptive behavior in students and children (Brouwer 35). Spanking is a form of corporal punishment because it entails inflicting physical pain to deter an offense. Therefore, the purpose of corporal punishment is to deter the wrongdoing or offense from ever happening again through instilling the undesired acts with
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
Research shows that harsh corporal punishment may reduce the connective tissue between brain cells known as grey matter. Studies have compared children who were disciplined with positive as opposed to negative reinforcement, and it was found that children subjected to physical punishment had less grey matter than children that were not. Furthermore, grey matter is vital for healthy cognitive functioning. A lower level of grey matter in certain areas of the prefrontal cortex is directly linked to learning disabilities and researchers “found significant correlations between the amount of grey matter in these brain regions and the children's performance on an IQ test” (Kovac). Consequently, if the objective is to teach a child self-control, corporal punishment is counter-productive as it impairs thought processes and the ability to learn. What is perceived as a good result in the moment will possibly only intensify the problem and result in other, more serious, afflictions. Therefore, it is certain that physical punishment does not positively contribute to a healthy body or
Children are like flowers, if well taken care of they will bloom. If ignored or tortured, they will wither and die. Child discipline is one of the most important elements of successful parenting. Today, many people have this notion that physical abuse is in no way a solution to helping children discern between right and wrong. Since generations children have been taught the art of discipline through physical punishment. Often this approach to disciplining has resulted in two outcomes, one is where the child becomes more tolerant and is willing to adhere to what he/she has been told, or the other which more often results in children developing a sense of anguish and desire to revolt.
The world has changed in many different ways, but there are still things that need to be changed for the better. Corporal punishment is one of those things. All around the world, corporal punishment is affecting children in many ways. It is described as a form of discipline that hurts a child in a way and is used both in homes and schools. It has been going on for years upon years and very few people try to stop it. People believe corporal punishment is good for children, but there have been so many negative outcomes that other people argue against it. Although some people believe that corporal punishment helps improve a child’s behavior, corporal punishment should not be used because it could be used excessively and it is ineffective.
Corporal punishment is often seen as ineffective and as having negative results in children’s development including developing of aggressive behaviors, harming parent-child relationships, and damaging
In today society, the above mentioned stance on corporal punishment is not uncommon. Many believe that because it was used as a child rearing tool in their childhood that it is not only effective but necessary in the rearing of obedient children. However, modern studies have consistently contradicted this philosophy. It is now known that although corporal punishment demonstrates short term results it ultimately leads to long term behavioral problems such as childhood aggression, poor parent/child relationship, poor child mental health, and adult antisocial behavior.
The researchers also found out in a survey that 30% of parents believed that spanking was not harmful to their children, 60% believed it harmful to their children, only 10% believed it would lead to severe problems. These statistics raise a startling flag when you think of the nature of this form of correction.