Spanking Your Children Research Paper

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.

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.

Everyday parents are faced with the challenges of disciplining their children. We all wish there was an instruction booklet that we could magical pull out and get them back on the right path, but no such thing exists. Often times, your child pushes you to the edge of your personal limitations. At this moment it is often we correct our child’s behavior by spanking. Spanking is considered a form of discipline that is acceptable by most and an unacceptable to a smaller crowd. Spanking can lead to psychological problems in early adolescent, which long term can lead to emotional and anger retention.

Even after years of research, the issue of whether spanking is an adequate discipline strategy or damaging to children remains a controversial topic. According to Kazdin and Benjet (2003) the definition of spanking is “. . . hitting a child with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intent to discipline without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm (p. 100). In addition, according to Maguire-Jack, Gromoske and Berger (2012) only a few studies propose that spanking is an effective form of discipline. On the other hand, there is more evidence to show that spanking is an unsuccessful form of discipline that can led to unwanted consequences (p. 1960). I personally do not take a stance in this topic because I can see valid points from both parties. Although, I believe that the way the punishment is presented to the child is extremely important. For example, I feel that the child should know why he or she is punished and what is expected of them thereafter.

The common misconception that spanking is a form of child abuse affects the proper discipline of today's youth. Some parents are actually afraid to discipline their own children using the same method of belief from their own upbringing. Who is correct in the notion of right and wrong discipline? Is there such a thing as a correct way to spank your child? In my opinion, there is. So, my goal is to show that if the

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 abuse is a very serious issue here in the United States. Child abuse is defined as the physical, mental, sexual abuse or exploitation, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child who is under the age 18 (Pro Quest Staff). Many of the children get abused by the person in charge of the child's care. This includes loved ones of the child, people who the child once could trust. In the all U.S. states allow parents to hit/spank their children in the manner of discipline.

Nevertheless spanking isn't abusive; it is a teaching device that parents use. Spanking is not a demonic way of parents defeating their children; they use it to make their children more responsible and thoughtful

According to Parenting Article by Dr. Phil, “Long-term consequences of spanking can include increased aggressiveness, antisocial behavior, and delinquency.” According to Elizabeth Landau article from CNN, “A new study of more than 2,500 toddlers from low income families found that spanking may have detrimental effects on behavior and mental development.” According to the American Psychological Association, written by Brendan Smith, Many studies show that physical punishment in a child, consist of spanking, lashing and causing pain escalates anti-social behavior, hostility, and mental health problem s for

Brendan Smith (2012), focused on the harm and the negative impacts of parents spanking their children. Internationally it is viewed as a violation of children’s rights, and has even been banned in 30 different countries (Smith, 2012). Elizabeth Gershoff, a researcher on physical punishment suggests that physical punishment does not work because you have to make it stronger and harder every time in order to have the kids comply (Smith, 2012). It has been found that children who were physically punished are more likely to believe

The second reason why spanking should not be done to children is the fact that it is a form of child abuse. At the moment, countries are divided as to legalize corporal punishment or create a law saying it is illegal. In the book written by Abela (2007) for the Council of Europe, she notes that “spanking of children less than two years old increases the risk of severe physical injury and the child is unlikely to understand the connection between behavior and punishment.” Most parents tend to go overboard when disciplining their children, especially when they are very angry and have not subdued their anger. This then makes the child their venting medium to get rid of that anger and sometimes, they do not apologize and even forget why they have done the deed. Other parents tend to make this a habit and even if the child did nothing wrong, they would still continue spanking the child. Eventually, the parents may slowly abuse the child through pain and totally make the child’s life a complete hell. As a result, child becomes frail and suffers psychological problems. Some countries, especially social services, use this as grounds to get the child away from the family and file cases of child abuse and physical injury that can lead to jail time if proven guilty. Spanking may also cause scarring and may be with the child

This site is an online article clip from a book published by The American Psychological Society. Within this article are the discussion of different views on spanking, key conclusions about its effects, and the methodological limitations of the research and resulting points as to why it’s under current debate. This is an extremely reliable source, due to the fact that it is a well-known society and was also written by students of one of the tops schools in the USA. Discussed

Today, there is a common misconception that spanking is a form of child abuse. Some parents are actually afraid to discipline their own children using the same method used for their own upbringing. Who is correct in the notion of right and wrong discipline? Is there such a thing as a correct way to spank your child? In my opinion, there is. So, my objective is to show that there is a fine line between the two terms Spanking and Child abuse. A Cambridge Dictionary states that Child Abuse occurs “when adults intentionally treat children in a cruel or violent way.” On the other hand, Spanking in the same dictionary means “to hit a child with the hand, usually several times on the bottom as a punishment.” In this way, the line between the two can be drawn where too much spanking results in bruises and scars on the child. Therefore, parents should not spank their children when they are angry themselves as the spank would turn out to be an unintentional smack. When this occurs, parents tend to accidently take out their frustration on the child. Primarily, this is when Spanking, a form of discipline, starts drifting towards the entire concept of ‘child abuse’.

Spanking positively affects the behavior of an offspring. Parents and/or guardians should spank their children in order to discipline them . Being about corporal punishment, spanking is one of them. The purpose of it is to reinforce the behavior of the child. The argument of parents being able spank their child has been going on for decades, should it be considered as child abuse or is it negative physical contact.