Should Parents Spank Their Children?
By: David • Essay • 408 Words • May 31, 2010 • 2,040 Views
Should Parents Spank Their Children?
Should parents spank their children?
What is the difference between “discipline” and “corporal punishment”? Literally, discipline means to teach or instruct; usually referring to helping children learn self-control. However, when parents speak of discipline, they often mean corporal punishment. Corporal punishment, though, involves the application of physical pain in response to undesirable behavior. In my opinion, I strongly believe that parents should not spank their child because there are other alternatives and spanking can cause long-term effects. So, why risk it?
Spanking can be ineffective because it does not teach an alternative behavior. Children may feel resentful, humiliated, and helpless after being spanked. As a result, the lesson they learn appears to be they should try harder not to get caught. Also, it sends the wrong message to children. Spanking can demonstrate that hitting is an acceptable way to solve problems, and that it is all right for a big person to strike a smaller one. When spanking is a frequently discipline method used it may have some harmful long-term effects such as increasing the chances of misbehavior, aggression, violent or criminal behavior, impaired learning, and depression.
Instead of spanking, the first response to do is to calm down because when your angry or upset you may make choices that you wouldn’t under calmer circumstances. Then, you may think of alternative approaches to discipline. Parents need time out too; they should go for a