Should Children Behaved When Children Misbehave?

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A family is referred to me because the parents have been using excessive punishment with their son and daughter. Whenever their children misbehave at school or at home the father beats them with a belt all over their legs and back and the mother does not beat them with a belt or other objects but she will slap them in the face if they are out of line or she will refuse to let them eat for a whole day if they do not do their chores or if they have a temper tantrum. The parents are wanting to change and find better ways to punish their children when they misbehave because they are at risk for losing their children to Child Protective Services if they do not change their forms of punishment. Both the Mother and Father were raised in a household …show more content…

(Miltenberger, 2012) Spanking a child for misbehaving, or grounding a child is an example of a punishment. The reason people do this is because the child begins to associate being punished with the negative behavior. The child will not like the punishment and will want to avoid it in the future, so the child will stop misbehaving in that manner. I would explain to the parents that there are ways that you can punish a child who has misbehaved without the use of excessive punishments. Spanking is permitted in many U.S. States but it does very by state. I would inform the parents that in the state of South Carolina, it is legal to spank your child for punishment if for sole purpose of restraining or correcting, and the force has is reasonable in manner and moderate in degree. (Kidjacked Spanking Laws, 2014) I have always felt that spanking doesn't work. It can temporarily stop the unwanted behavior, but the most effective forms of discipline are those that teach children how to control their behavior. Spanking could teach your child to be afraid of you when they have done something wrong, but it does not teach the child the real consequences of their behavior. Spanking could also teach children that it's all right to hit, and that it's all right to be hit and that could have a negative long term effect on the children. I …show more content…

The excessive punishments they have used in the past has not worked for them and will only result in them losing their children. I will make sure I stress to the parents the importance of staying consistent in their methods of behavior change. These behavior changes will not happen overnight. Choosing not to spank their children is going to be difficult because it requires a little more planning, time and creativity. Because they are used to only excessive spanking, these other techniques can take time to get used to. They just need to continue to monitor the behaviors and the results of the methods they try so they can see what is working and what is not working so they can better adjust their techniques. There are also websites that I can direct the parents to that can help them in their adjustment to other behavior methods other than using excessive punishments. Project NoSpank (www.nospank.net) and the Center for Effective Discipline (www.stophitting.com) have some very helpful information for people who would like alternatives to spanking. (Project No Spank, 2014) (The Center of Effective Disipline,

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