Muhammad Anwar

English 1102
Professor Hughes
05/06/2015
Never were the rights of man ever so disregarded as in the case of the child
Maria Montessori. Children are possibly the most defenseless and vulnerable members of
our society. Children depend on their parents/adults for support, guidance, learning, etc.
Parents responsibility is to discipline their kids and make sure that their kids grow up to
be contributing members of society. Some parents choose to teach discipline through avid
communication, conversations about various rules and regulations, and setting examples,
to show their kids how to behave. Other parents choose to teach their kids through
punishment and making them see the consequences of not following orders. After years
of debate, it is yet to be determined whether or not spanking is crucial in a childs
development.
There is no right or wrong way specified on how to discipline a child. Children do
not come with a list of dos and donts after their birth. Since the child cannot fond for
his/her own, it is up to the parent whatever they choose to do to the child. This is why
there is quite a large spectrum of differentiating opinions on how to raise children. Tessa
Bell and Eliza Romano performed a research conducted in response to Section 43 of the
Canadian Criminal code, which allows the use of corporal punishment by parents for
children 2 to 12 years of age. They specified their findings, the sample consists of 818
nonparents (70.7% female, 29.0% male) who completed an online study. Results indicate
that 38.6% were favorable toward upholding Section 43. However, this decreases to
25.8% when a condition is included, stating that parents would not be prosecuted for mild
slaps or spankings. For attitudes toward spanking more generally, results reveal that

16.7% of the participants held favorable attitudes (Bell, Romano). This shows that there
is quite a debate a debate on whether or not spanking is necessary.

Parents all over the nation argue that children require to be spanked. Many claim
that it is impossible to discipline a child without clear demonstration of the possible
consequences that follow misbehavior. Spanking frequency before age 2 is significantly
and positively associated with child behavior problems at school age (Slade, Wissow).
Slade and Wissow conducted a research on why parents find it necessary to spank their
children. They also discuss the effects of spanking on children of different ethnicities,
concluding that white, non-Hispanic children are most affected by it. White nonHispanic children who were spanked more frequently before age 2 were substantially
more likely to have behavior problems after entry into school (Slade, Wissow). Parents
dont take the consequences of spanking into consideration, but only the quick result,
which is that the child will stop misbehaving for the time being.

Spanking seems like an easy solution to disciplining children, but the damage
inflicted upon the child isnt only the temporary physical pain, it also includes permanent
psychological side effects. [Spanking] teaches children that violence is O.K. When
children who were raised that way grow up, they often use violence themselves in the
way that they have learned (Meyers). Meyers talks about Adrian Petersons child abuse
charges and discusses whether or not spanking is just tradition or a manner of child
abuse. That isnt culture. Its a cycle of abuse. As a society, we still look the other way.
Were comfortable intervening when we see a woman being struck in public by her
husband, but not when a child is struck by a parent (Meyers). Meyers believes it
unethical for a full grown adult to be hitting an innocent, defenseless child because he/she

failed to comply with certain demands. Spanking creates a pile of deep psychological
issues while disguising itself as an easy fix to a misbehaving child. Spanking doesnt
solve any problems, it adds on to them.
Spanking supposedly teaches children how to respect their parents. It shows kids
that they must always be obedient and listen to their parents, unless they want to face the
consequences. I remember seeing one hapless father chasing after his son, trying to get
the boy to listen and pleading: "You need to respect me." The lad ignored him
(Navarette Jr.). Navarette argues that children cant learn to respect their parents if they
are not spanked and face consequence for exhibiting any sort of disrespect towards their
parents. While spanking may teach respect temporarily, it does not have any lasting
effect, children often grow up and turn out vengeful and full of hatred towards their
parents for the years of past abuse. Thompson concluded that "Although ... corporal
punishment does secure children's immediate compliance, it also increases the likelihood
of eleven [types of] negative outcomes [such as increased physical aggression by the
child and depression later in life]. Moreover, even studies conducted by defenders of
corporal punishment show that, even when the criterion is immediate compliance, noncorporal discipline strategies work just as well as corporal punishment (Straus, Stewart).
Straus and Stewart discuss the influence of corporal punishment like spanking on
antisocial behavior. Clearly this is not an effective way to teach children respect. A much
more effective way to teach children respect is by respecting the child and avoiding
insults and violent behavior towards them. Children can learn respect through many
different methods than spanking.

Spanking your child is considered acceptable in society today. Some deem it

necessary, and others see it as an excuse. This is a trend that has carried on for ages and
adults who have faced this abuse as kids, often tend to see it as acceptable behavior. I

was molested as a kid, and I turned out fine too, but that doesn't mean I think its okay to
molest kids. The fact that you survived abuse doesn't mean you should be allowed to
inflict it on your own kids (Robbins). Just because a certain individual experienced
abuse a certain way and believes they turned out fine, does not mean that their children,
or anyones children, will be affected by it the same way and turn out fine. Parents need
to quit abusing their authority and start finding better ways to raise their children. Using
other forms of discipline doesn't make kids soft, it makes parenting harder because you
have to control yourself in order to keep control of the situation and use other methods to
discipline your kids even though you want to hit them (Robbins). Humans can learn a lot
more from example than from commands. If parents show their child how to behave,
instead spanking them when they dont, they could have children that hold love and
respect towards their parents not only through their adolescence, but even up to
adulthood.

A few people argue that spanking is not abuse. Parents claim that spanking is
actually an expression of love and shows the parents desire to better their child. Some
even go as far to say that if a child is not spanked then the child is not loved enough. Matt
Walsh argues that behavior like spanking is what brings families close together. If all
physical discipline is abuse, and no distinction can be drawn between spanking and
whipping a child until hes bruised, bloodied, and terrified, then it stands to reason that all
verbal reprimands constitute verbal abuse, and no distinction can be drawn between a
stern talking-to and berating your kid with vulgar insults and threats (Walsh). Walsh
believes that verbal abuse is not considered as much of a serious issue as physical abuse
and based on this belief he says both types of abuse should be treated the same. Some
would argue that verbal abuse is just as much of a threat as physical abuse and should be
treated as such. It should be avoided in a childs developmental training into adulthood.

Spanking affects a childs development by teaching aggression and violent

behavior. If a child sees their parent demonstrate violence, they are sure to carry it on to
their own adult life. After a research on the effects of spanking, this was proved, model
provided evidence of developmental continuity in both spanking and externalizing
behavior, but results also highlighted important reciprocal processes taking hold early,
with spanking influencing later externalizing behavior, which, in turn, predicted
subsequent spanking (Mackenzie, Nicalas, Waldfogel). Children who are spanked later
go on to demonstrate violent behavior through adolescence and even going onto
adulthood, possibly ending up spanking their own child and creating a cycle of corporal
punishment.

Spanking qualifies as child abuse and there a many different ways to avoid it
through a childs developmental training. Children have no means of defense against the
only person, their parent(s), they can trust and when that figure of support treats them
unfairly and behaves violently, the children will learn nothing but aggression and possible
hatred towards their parents. Parents should stop taking advantage of their power over a
child and stop physical abuse against them when they are defenseless. If you ever see a
parent beat their child, speak up and put a stop to it. Spanking your child teaches nothing
but disrespect, distrust, resentment, and several kinds of negative behavior. The effects of
spanking are too high of a cost on a childs personality to pay for temporary relief or
discipline. Its about time we start valuing our children enough to stop corporal
punishment in the means of teaching respect. It is doing a lot more damage than good and
effective method of discipline.

Citations

Mackenzie, Michael J., et al. "Spanking and Children's Externalizing Behavior

Across the First Decade of Life: Evidence for Transactional
Processes." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 44.3 (2015): 65869. ProQuest. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Romano, Elisa, Tessa Bell, and Rick Norian. "Corporal Punishment:

Examining Attitudes Toward the Law and Factors Influencing Attitude
Change." Journal of Family Violence 28.3 (2013): 265-75. ProQuest. Web. 29
Apr. 2015.

Slade, Eric P., and Lawrence S. Wissow. "Spanking in Early Childhood and
Later Behavior Problems: A Prospective Study of Infants and Young
Toddlers." Pediatrics 113.5 (2004): 1321-30. ProQuest. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Meyers, Thomas. Spanking isnt Culture, its a Cycle of Abuse. Motherlode.

Sep 24 2014. The New York Times Company. Web. April 21 2015.

Navarette Jr., Ruben. Spanking isn't child abuse; it's common sense. CNN.
Sep 18 2014. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Web. April 21 2015.

Robbins, Mel. Spanking isn't parenting; it's child abuse. CNN. Sep 16 2014.
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. Web. April 21 2015.

Walsh, Matt. Spanking is a disciplinary measure, not child abuse. Get a grip,
people. The Matt Walsh Blog. Sep 18 2014. Web. April 28 2015

Straus, Murray A., Stewart, Julie H., Corporal Punishment by American

Parents: National Data on Prevalence, Chronicity, Severity, and Duration, in
Relation to Child and Family Characteristics Clinical Child and Family
Psychology Review June 1999, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp 55-70. Springer. Web. 29

Apr. 2015.