The Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment is a very complex and controversial topic. It's hard to decide what is right and what is wrong when discussing how to discipline children. For those of you who are not familiar with the term corporal punishment it is the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control of the child's behavior. I read a lot of definitions, but I think Murray Straus summed it up the best with that definition. Corporal punishment is sometimes called spanking. The more common types of corporal punishment are spanking, grabbing or shoving, and hitting a child with objects such as a hair brush, belt, or paddle (Straus, 4-5). In the following paragraphs such things as who uses corporal punishment, the short long term effects of corporal, and things to do instead of using corporal punishment will be discussed. To my surprise many people do in fact use corporal punishment. Many people believe that when their child†s behavior gets out of control that the only way to restore order is to paddle the ones that are causing problems. In the Gallup Monthly Poll of 1000 randomly selected American parents, â€Å"Over half of the parents said they administered minor physical punishment during the past year, while 22 percent said they use severe physical punishment. â€Å"(Daro 519). This physical punishment does not work as effectively as other types of punishment and strictly speaking is illegal. â€Å"It is much better to choose a punishment that will fit the action, for example if a child has a fight over the TV, take away TV privileges. Corporal punishment is usually administered when the parent is being brash and hasn't had time to cool down from the child's misbehavior. † (Maccoby 19). Recently the â€Å"No hitting-use words to express you feelings† method has been thought to resolve problems, but many people don't believe it is effective and they result to other methods, such as corporal punishment. A study conducted by Gelles in 1989 found that 84 per cent of 1,470 adults agreed that â€Å"It is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a hard spanking. † (20). What does this mean? It means that there are a lot of people out there who are using corporal punishment and that might be causing psychological problems within their children and may not even recognize it (Gelles 23). If you were to talk to parents and children of earlier generations you wouldn't believe the number of parents who spanked their children. Most parents spank their children because they believe it was for their own good (Straus 3). Research up to 1985 shows that more than 90% of parents used corporal punishment on toddlers and more than half continued to use it during the early teen years. Even this high figure represents a decrease from 99% in the 1950s and 97% in 1975. There have been further decreases since 1985, but almost all children continue to experience corporal punishment (White 12). These high prevalence rates and the high rates of approval of spanking may be interpreted as an indication that parents spank with little thought of possible side effects, such as later aggression and are learning to control this as time goes on (Daro 528). Talking with my parents and grandparents they said children back then were different. They respected their parents and followed directions. So why the change? Issues such as society, the increase in violence on TV, and the number of hours people spend watching TV may be leading factors in the change in children†s behavior. Now a day, there are children who enjoy being spanked because even though it was painful, it is quick and they didn't have to do any extra chores (Chmelynski 51). Out of the seven or eight articles I read there was only one that mentioned corporal punishment as a positive reinforcement. Most of the articles stated that it was either abuse or ineffective. Stuart Tolman, the Murtaugh school board chairman in Illonois, states that â€Å"Corporal punishment is effective†. He adopted corporal punishment to answer parent†s request of better discipline. He thinks, â€Å"suspensions just give kids a holiday. † He also said since they have been using corporal punishment there has been no suspensions that year (Chmelynski 51). Just because one out of seven or eight articles says that corporal punishment does work, does that mean it really does work? Of course not. Joy Cain states, â€Å"Abusing children directly affects their performance in school. â€Å"(101). According to a study published in Social Work Research, students who are abused consistently do worse on â€Å"CAT standardized tests, grade point averages, proportion who dropped out when eligible, mean annual absences, proportion of possible behavior problems and retention, and proportion with delinquency complaints† (Eron 172). Spanking a child will not stop them from doing the same thing later in life. According to research conducted, â€Å"Children who have been slapped or hit are usually so overwhelmed with anger and hurt feelings that they cannot remember what they were punished for. According to Susan Smith, the lesson that is being taught to a child that is being hit is that hitting is a solution to solving problems(1). Believe it or not there are short term and long term effects to corporal punishment. Obviously the short-term effect would be the stopping of the inappropriate behavior, but the long-term effect might not be so obvious. To determine definite results of long-term effects, many studies have to be conducted and many conclusions have to be drawn. Unfortunately, no types of studies have been done. The reason for this is that there would have to be an experimental group that would have to use corporal punishment and since many social scientists believe that harm will result in such studies, they don't want to conduct them. Even though there have been no studies reported, there have been some theories that have been supported by some research. These findings show that the more corporal punishment, the higher the rate of undesirable behaviors or thought later in life, such things as delinquency, approval of violence, alienation, depression, and lower earnings (Straus 196). Straus also believes that victims of corporal punishment have an increased chance of worse behavior and other problems, including impaired learning and as mentioned before, delinquency; and later in life, depression, child abuse, wife beating, and other crimes† (Straus 4). Although cultural norms supporting corporal punishment of children may be changing, there is abundant evidence that these norms are deeply rooted and pervasive (Yarrow 21). One of the most fundamental ways in which cultural norms supporting corporal punishment are expressed is in the Criminal law on assault. In every state of the U. S. hitting a child for purposes of correction or control is exempt from the crime of assault, usually with the proviso that it is limited to â€Å"reasonable force. † In practice, that includes the right to hit with belts and paddles, provided the child is not injured (Straus 12). In the 1960s every state in the United States passed legislation designed to protect children from physical abuse and to provide services for abused children. Ironically, in order to garner sufficient votes to pass the child abuse laws, it was typically necessary to include a provision declaring that parents continued to have the right to use corporal punishment. As a result, legislation intended to protect children from physical abuse contained provisions that further legitimated a practice that increases the risk of physical abuse (Giles 171). When reading about corporal punishment it is critical to know that it is an ethic and moral question to as if corporal punishment is right or wrong. It all comes down to what you believe in. It would be nice if everyone got along and didn't hit one another, but in reality everyone is not like that. Something can be done though to prevent the use of corporal punishment. Other types of discipline, without raising a hand to a child, can be taught and used by many parents. It may seem a lot easier to spank and be done, but here are some suggestions that are being used today: 1. Take a deep breath and remember you are the adult. 2. Count to twenty while you pressing your lips together tightly. 3. Go outside or take a walk. Get yourself away from the situation and clear your head (Smith 2). 4. Keep expectations in line with the child's age. 5. Think ahead, and anticipate problems and ways of avoiding them. 6. Offer choices. Don't bark commands. 7. Be consistent. 8. Follow through with consequence, not punishments. (Cain 101). Other steps can be taken to prevent the use of corporal punishment on children. Parents can create a home where it's easier for a child to be well behaved and productive, and where they are less tempted to resort to spanking (Larzelere 30). They can be clear that they are the parents who ultimately set the limits and enforce the rules. One step to doing this would be to teach children how to talk about their feelings, rather than act them out in misbehavior. Next, parents should try to anticipate stressful situations and develop ways of handling them before the child's behavior gets out of control. As long as parents monitor their own levels of anger and are aware of what may trigger angry responses, they can be patient and in control. Last, parents have to be consistent in their parenting, so that all confusion can be stopped between what punishments will be like, so that children can know what to expect if they disobey their parents (White 14). Spanking and other forms of physical punishment teach children that it is all right to hit people who are smaller and weaker. Physical punishment causes parents to lose an opportunity to teach children alternative behaviors, which are socially acceptable. Its use sometimes leads to physical abuse and it contributes to the cycle of child abuse. Other means of discipline are available to parents including time-out, rule setting, and consequences for misbehavior, explaining and reasoning and praise for good behavior. â€Å"Corporal punishment may provide immediate results, but it doesn't teach self-discipline. It teaches that aggression is the way to solve problems and that big people can bully little people† (Cain 121). Corporal punishment is wrong. It may cause problems in the future for the child being hit, and it is not fair to the child. With so many other choices, corporal punishment should be laid to rest.