Persuasive Essay on Whether or nor Parents Should Utilize Firm Discipline as a Consequence Tactic on Children

Rohun Rajaram

Ms. Enad

English II PreAP – Period 1

19 October 2017

More Harm than Good

Firm juvenile discipline is like taking a medication. When useful but not used, it results in lack of control over a situation; on the other hand, when used in overdose, it can destroy the receiver in question. In fact, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, firmer parental regulation lead to higher rates of aggression, and inability to ascertain societally correct morals (Child Maltreatment and Violence Committee). Though this method works to solve problems presently, it is not effective over time. Similarly, when a parent finds it difficult to penalize their child effectively, without being aggressive, they often feel lenient, and make exceptions to their standards. These standards include morals and values that kids need to know to function normally through their adult lives. Neither of these disciplinary methods allow parents to safely and effectively consequence children, but a healthy medium is the best thing any parent can do for their child. Parents should utilize neither firm or lenient tactics on their children, as both are associated with negatively life-altering side effects.

                The usage of firm juvenile discipline leads to general deficiency in many key aspects of normal childhood development, resulting in a suboptimal life. In 2017, the American College of Pediatricians published an impact study that stated, “the links between corporal punishment and detrimental outcomes in young children exist.” (Dinsky & Sessions-Brown). Examples of such disadvantages include lower reading levels, lesser general tolerance, as well as ability to build trusting relationships. According to the same study, deficiency in interpersonal skills is statistically proven to be present among children whose parents fervently resorted to using strictness from the ages of 5-7. Based on the environment, the lack of interpersonal skills often leads to increased inability to make friends. Most of a child’s life is spent around their friends and family, and because some parents use firm penalization, their children fear them, and can’t make friends to make up for the lack of trusting familial relationships. Another prevalent aspect of firm discipline, is that it affects how a child places self-value and self-worth. The misplacement of said self-worth often ends in suicidal thoughts or actions. Therefore, detrimental effects caused by a parent’s usage of firm regulation lead to destructive juvenile developmental problems.

                Children whose parents neglect discipline are at a disadvantage because they lack the skills and knowledge punishment provides. Kids push limits because they do not know what boundaries exist, and without penalization, the lack of boundaries can end in perpetually dangerous behavior. Children should be orderly, states a study conducted by Stanford University, which also mentioned that “parental control is necessary and when not present, can put a child in danger.” (Koch). As parents neglect discipline, their children face problems with conducting amicable interpersonal relations. If children don’t learn how to respectfully and calmly deal with different people, they resort to aggressive and destructive behaviors. Academic achievement can also be stunted by the lack of penalization, as some parents believe it is degrading to set academic standards for their kids. Instead they encourage their kids to try their hardest, without requiring it in the best interest of the child. Children without academic standards, unless self-motivated, tend to graduate primary education with no desire to participate in higher education. This puts kids at a disadvantage, as college educated individuals are more likely to get jobs associated with long-term financial security. A commonly overlooked, yet equally as important reason, is to teach children how to manage their emotions. A child who is put in time-out is more likely to learn that they don’t like the feeling of being reprimanded, and has a lesser chance of participating in similar actions again. Similarly, a child who is asked to help a parent bring in groceries, and is praised afterward, is likely to associate those activities with feeling good, and repeat them in the future. Parents have the most influential role in the life of their offspring, and it is imperative that they consciously do not choose to neglect the regulation of their children.

It can be argued that both firm and lenient discipline are successful at what they aim to do. In fact, according to Nancy Darling, Ph.D., a professor of Psychology at Oberlin College “disciplinary spanking, when properly employed by a parent, can be effective, appropriate, and at times necessary.” Though physically abusive strictness may immediately consequence a child for acting improperly, its long-term effects negate any mention of it being successful at what the intended purpose of discipline is. Discipline can be commonly understood as the reprimanding of one, as a result of their wrong actions, such that they learn not to repeat them again. Parents who firmly regulate their children negate its long-term goals, which leads to this destructive style of penalization being abused more frequently, while their children fear the parent. Likewise, Eugene Beresin M.D., M.A., former dean of the College of Psychology at Harvard University mentions in a study about the effects of different strictness on children that when children can act freely without parentally derived consequences, they often learn the same life lessons, and though it may take longer to learn, the child is more likely to follow them because it was learned through firsthand experience. This process of organic discovery wastes both the child, and parent’s time, which could be better utilized to learn more life skills, and further influence the child. The child may be emotionally, mentally, or physically hurt during every encounter during the self-discovery process. Both the parent, and especially the child in question suffer during this process and experience unnecessary pain, that could be negated with the usage of proper parenting techniques. Neither firm or lenient discipline methods lead to the eventual success of a child, without an unhealthy amount of consequences.