Persuasive Essay On Spanking A Child

Child abuse is an issue within society that effects the lives of not only the victims but also the lives of many people in the social order. Child abuse is any mistreatment or neglect of a child that results in non-accidental injury or harm and which cannot be logically explained. There are several forms of abuse and neglect and many state governments have developed their own legal description of what constitutes child maltreatment for the purposes of removing a child and prosecuting a criminal charge. Child abuse consists of different forms of harm including physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect.

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.

With discipline is all about reinforcing positive behaviors. One example can be to give out praises when a positive social behavior has been shown and encourage to continue the behavior. As the previous example that I used, if the parents had explained that it is not appropriate to hit or throw things at people. Then the child would have learned that what he did was wrong and would likely learn not to do it again if he is given an acceptable consequence to his behavior. When disciplining a child they must receive a consequence that is appropriate for his or her age.

Why Spanking Children is Wrong Parents have been spanking their children for hundreds of years, but recently this practice has come into question. The concern is not regarding the effectiveness of spanking but the correctness of spanking. Parents should not be allowed to strike their children. Child abuse is defined as any unnecessary or intentional physical or emotional or sexual mistreatment of children. Spanking is not the only method of child discipline. Spanking is not even the most effective method of child discipline. Numerous studies have made it evident that spanking does have a negative effect on children. Spanking children should be considered child abuse because it teaches children the wrong message about hitting, it does not

For example: if a child decides to do drugs or physically harm someone, then they should get a spanking or a harsh scolding accompanied by a week of restriction on things they enjoy. Luscombe includes a quote involving the alternative punishments to spanking being more effective than spanking (par. 9). I normally agree with this, however I would add that it also depends on the child and their attitudes after the punishment has occurred. For instance, if a parent was to eliminate one of the stars on “The Star Chart,” and the child’s response was, “I don’t care,” then the parent would have to apply harsher punishments until the child has changed their attitude towards the punishment. Luscombe also includes information on the negative effects physical punishment may have on children, which should be taken into account when disciplining (par. 5).

Spanking is a form of punishment that consists of striking another person to cause physical pain. It is often used as a method of correcting a child's behavior and has been used for many years by our ancestors, typically being done with an open hand. Spanking children has been a very controversial topic over the years. Spanking is ineffective because it causes aggressive behavior in children, leads to long term mental health issues , and is an act of violence.

My prior understanding of discipline was uneducated and inaccurate. I was certain that discipline was related to punishment and the goal was to have a particular unwanted behavior to cease. A child that required discipline would be singled out, scolded, forced to perform a chore or action, such as sit for a time out, or the child would have something taken away, such as television or toys. As a child, I grew up in a household with parents who were primarily authoritative. They tended to be fair; however they did use punishment through "grounding", which generally meant that we were not able to engage in fun for set period of time. Other times, we were instructed to perform some sort of labor of their choice, such as washing my Dad's

given to a child as a last resort to let them know that what they did was wrong and they are not to do it again. So when does spanking become abuse? Spanking becomes abuse when it is no longer used as a disciplining method, but as a way for the parent to vent out or is vital to the health of the child. When a parent begins to use their child as a punching bag or as a way to release anger, then it becomes abuse. When parents starve children because they did not finish their chores fast enough or calls them stupid and dumb, that is abuse. Child discipline becomes abuse when the situation becomes vital to the health and well being of the child. No child should have to deal with any type of abuse from a parent or guardian, not physically, mentally or emotionally. However, parents and guardians should discipline their children in the right way. When a child is disciplined (in the right way) it teaches them right from wrong and makes them a better person, but knowing how to discipline determines the difference between discipline and abuse.

Many people today are getting arrested for simply disciplining a child. But, in older times disciplining a child set good moral standards and taught that child on what that child was supposed to do and what not to do. There is a fine line between abuse and discipline. So what is child abuse? Child abuse consists of any act of commission or omission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development. Child abuse includes any damage done to a child which cannot be reasonably explained and which is often represented by an injury or series of injuries appearing to be non-accidental in nature. There are also different kinds of child abuse; which include physical, emotional, and sexual. But, discipline does not

Child abuse viewed in the form of discipline is a growing epidemic that affects both the child in the present and can also damage them emotionally or physically in the future. The line between child abuse and discipline may seem obvious to most people, but where is the line actually drawn? Child abuse is anything that emotionally or physically endangers/impairs a child’s well-being, whereas discipline is correcting a behavior in a manner that helps the child’s growth. Physical punishment should not be a form of discipline because of the emotional effects it can have on the child.

The term corporal punishment means the intentional infliction of pain on the body for purposes of punishment. "Spanking can be defined as the use of physical force aimed at causing children to experience pain but not injury, for the purposes of correction and control of youthful behavior"(http://www.123helpme.com/preview.asp?id=32539). Spanking is a controversial topic and should not be taken lightly.

Discipline is one of the basic things a child learns from his parents before he or she faces the outside world to learn more about life as a whole. Teaching this trait can depend on how the parent shows it to their child and how they explain the importance of having this trait both in and out of their homes. Misbehaving children cannot be avoided as they are curious little beings and they have a tendency to explore. But there are some parents, even teachers, who do not tolerate misbehaving and they resort to corporal punishments such as spanking to make sure the child never forgets how painful it is to misbehave as they will remember the punishment entailed to it and become more disciplined. However, not all children would understand the

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’.

Every parent has a different opinion on what is the correct way to discipline children, although they all want the same result: a well-behaved child. Every child has a different way of thinking, so it is the parent’s job to figure out which disciplinary method works the best for them. There is a wide variety of ways to teach children right from wrong. Countless amounts of parents feel spanking is the most effective way to discipline. With that being said, there is also controversy over whether spanking is an acceptable method for discipling youth. According to Sarah Smenyak, a specialist in counseling and human services, “If parents choose to spank their child, it should not be done in a way that causes injury to the child, violates the child or causes humiliation to the child” (The Difference Between Discipline and Child Abuse). Spanking in public or even in a household becomes abusive when an endeavor to control a child becomes excessive and a child is wounded as a result.

For many years parents have been disciplining their children in various ways. Discipline is required to train a child in doing what is right and staying away from what is wrong and dangerous. Discipline has always been used in order for the child not to grow up spoiled and choosy. Giving children what they want always is never a good thing, while teaching them that they cannot have everything teaches them patience. Discipline is very critical in a child’s life because it is a determining factor on how that child is going to turn out in the future. People will always relate bad parenting to a child’s bad behaviour and good parenting to a good behaviour. So how must parents discipline in order