The Ethics Of Punishing Children

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Punishing children is a controversial topic, with supporters and opponents on both ends of the spectrum. It revolves around the aspect of ethics and practical steps that can be taken to work on the behavior of the children and their relative discipline in the school and at home. Punishment is seen as a way of helping them cope with their behavioral problems and provoking them to become obedient and submissive. The different views regarding their idea of punishment and its effects on learning are divided between people, and the perspectives vary from one another drastically. Supporters of punishment believe that it actually works in allowing the child to improve his or her behavior and to become more submissive and obedient to the parents and …show more content…

For instance, if the student misbehaves in class, then he can be punished by the teacher immediately. The purpose served by this is that the child is immediately made aware of what he or she has done wrong with the help of the punishment administered as soon as the offense has been committed. The teacher or parent, when resorting to beating, paddling or giving a timeout, suspending from school and other means of punishment, give a direct message to the child that the action that was committed was indeed inappropriate and it had its repercussions (Goodman, 2017). Children, especially at a young age, are prone to create a chaotic environment in the school and even at home. It can only be considered rightful for the parents to punish the child in his or her own way so that there is deterrence and check given at the right time. Sometimes, the punishment given at the exact time of the offense is considered useful because it saves time from granting other kinds of punishments, such as detentions and grounding the child and halting all other activities (Goodman, 2017). There are certain times when such kinds of punishments do work, and they help the child understand how important it is to follow the rules and to become more disciplined in their life. When the teacher or parent uses punishment in this manner, they are actually aiding in the development and growth of …show more content…

There are cases where many schools have been banned from taking such action on children because there are no positive effects of using violence instead of making them listen to the adult in a civilized manner. Beating the child can make them more timid, afraid and even insecure about their capabilities and prevent them from becoming confident. In fact, there are cases where the psychological impact can be so severe that the child remains permanently afraid and hesitant to progress in a particular manner because of the punishment that was inflicted for making a mistake. Such a psychological impact is a serious issue that harms a healthy mental and emotional development ("Corporal Punishment in Schools and Its Effect on Academic Success" Joint HRW/ACLU Statement,

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