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History of Spanking Essay

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Since the birth of the nation Americans have wrestled about the topic of spanking children for discipline. We waver back and forth for a while it is okay and expected that we will discipline the children by using corporal punishment. Then everything changes and for years it is no longer acceptable. It has been the subject of many heated debates and will continue to do so as long as we have parents and as long as they raise children. In the long run we will find out if spanking turned out to be an asset or a liability but for the immediate future it is something America needs to go back to using for guidance purposes. We are seeing more violence in teenagers than ever before, the juvenile crime rate seems to be rising and for the last two …show more content…

Members of the House of Prayer say their brand of corporal punishment is nothing more than an old-fashioned spanking. State officials say the "spankings" administered to at least two of the children in that church crossed the line (Matrz, 2001).” “Corporal punishment, the DFCS manual says, is "any physical punishment of a child to inflict pain as a deterrent to wrong doing. It may produce transitory pain and potential bruising. If pain and bruising are not excessive or unduly severe and result only in short-term discomfort, this is not considered maltreatment (Matrz, 2001)." Where the line is crossed, Liber said, is when the discipline causes injuries to the child. "Once physical injury is left (on the child), it constitutes child abuse and we have to intervene," she said (Matrz, 2001).” While courts continue to rule that spanking is okay, and schools are still using it as a measure of punishment in many areas of the county there are millions of Americans who protest the use of corporal punishment as a means to control or teach children lessons. For those who are against spanking they use the argument that it is assault on a child. Any form of hitting even a swat on the butt is an assault on a human being and should. “Most parents feel strongly for or strongly against spanking. Their positions are mainstays of their basic approaches to their children. At my town meetings and presentations, parents often split and oppose one another as they defend

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