Child Discipline vs. Abuse
Introduction
The most prominent social group that exists is family. Family life prepares its members for the different roles they will perform in the society (Smith, Delores and Gail 369). However, literature has affirmed that family is the most violent social group, where parental mistreat against their children being the most significant kind of social violence. Apparently, some developed nations such as Japan, the United States, and Sweden have shifted from violent punishing of the kids to a gentler and more appropriate approach for disciplining them without necessarily causing harm. However, according to Smith, Delores, and Gail, some nations like Jamaica and Caribbean among others still have the culture of severe
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In simple terms, disciplining a child is a form of training, and it is a sole responsibility of every parent or guardian to teach and train their children on the appropriate actions and behaviors. It means a child expects to be rectified positively if he/she fails to meet some expectations. Consequently, children are born innocent, not knowing what is acceptable, how to behave, or what people expect from them. They appear in this universe as little selfish howling bundles. It means, parents must invest their patience and time in teaching their young ones, show a lot of love, care and concern, and model excellent behavioral response to the kids in the mirror. Apparently, nobody who promised parent that the job would be easy, so they need to be …show more content…
According to Miller, Cindy, and Robin, the primary advantage with corporal punishment is that it is the only practical approach to discipline the unruly children (68). Apparently, the opponents of corporal punishment argue that the power of physical punishment does not instill behaviors or manners, but provokes further misbehavior and resentment. However, centuries have proved that spanking kids have produced more civilized and reliable young people. A practical example is during the American Occupation in the Philippines, where spanking and any other form of corporal punishment were applied to all the students who disobeyed the school rules, to be particular, the English-only rule. The approach led to the production of more disciplined Filipino students, who turned to be multilingual and academically competent (Miller, Cindy, and Robin 69). Nevertheless, in the current world, with the prohibition and restrictions of corporal punishment under the human right laws, there is a rapid rise in the number of juvenile delinquents every year. Consequently, the infliction of physical pain by spanking or whipping is associated with disciplining the wrongdoing kids, where they can realize their mistakes, and end up not repeating them. Therefore, corporal punishment is the most practical form of punishing the unruly kids than any other means (Engulu
The way children are treat by their parents reflects from themselves and onto their peers. “… parents that are very sarcastic, a child will be very sarcastic with their peers…” Parents don’t realize the affects spanking causes too the children’s mental state. In the article written by Brendan L. Smith, he explains that physical punishment, including spanking, “...can lead to increase aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury, and mental health problem for children.” Although physical punishment, such as spanking, may work momentarily, but it just causes the children to become more aggressive. (Smith 3) Over 30 countries have completely banned physical punishments for children. Elizabeth Gershoff, PhD, at the University of Texas at Austin, another expert on the issue says “Physical punishment doesn’t work to get kids to comply, so parents think they have to keep escalating it. That is why it is so dangerous…” (Smith
Not too long ago, disciplining children was much simpler. It was a time when children actually listened to and respected their parents. It was the time of “Do what I say.” But today, child discipline is one
Arguments arise when the topic of “spanking” comes up. There are good and bad feelings that are brought out about it. The world has different opinions on how misbehavior should be handled. Race, ethnicity, and age also have influenced how spanking is looked upon. Is spanking too much for children? Is spanking just beating children? This tool is used too get the attention of the child in a firm manner. Spanking is an effective way to show punishment, although it is looked upon as a crime in today’s era through the nation’s eye.
Because the beliefs, education and cultures of people vary so much, along with the age of the child, methods of child discipline vary widely. The topic of child discipline involves a wide range of fields such as parenting, behavioural analysis, developmental psychology, social work and various religious perspectives. Advances in the understanding of parenting have provided a background of theoretical understanding and practical understanding of the effectiveness of parenting methods.
The general acceptance, and sometimes support, of corporal punishment as a method of discipline is an aspect of the American culture (Barnett, Miller-Perrin, Perrin 61).
...to Deal With Kids Who Misbehave,” Betsy Brown (2012) writes that punishing a child makes him focus only on his anger at his parent, and that this parent is mean and bad, but not even think about the mistake he did. There are a lot of guidelines that the parents should follow when they feel like spanking (Betsy, 2012). For example, a short, direct, and one-sided conversation about what happened and what will happen as a result of the problem. This will help the child understand not only that doing this thing is wrong, but also why. Also, isolating the child In a safe place helps him to think about the mistake that he did. Although punishing children by smacking or hitting can threaten them from committing mistakes, they will repeat the same thing while the parents are not around. This is because they only know that they should not do this thing, and do not know why.
Growing up as children, from a very early stage in life we are taught by our parents and guardians to follow the simple rules set in the family setting as well as being respectful to everyone. As a child if one misbehaved or failed to live by the code of conduct, they ought to be disciplined in order to get back on track. Discipline simply meant to impart knowledge and skills. Many times however, discipline is mistaken for punishment and control and this poses a great challenge to parents on effective methods of instilling discipline in their children from one stage of life to the next for instance; how parents ought to discipline older children varies from the way they are required to handle toddlers.
Youth today no longer respect people in higher authority. Children today often talk back to their parents. It is common to see that they don’t obey their teachers nor fear the police. This is because of how they were parented when they were young. Thomas George stated that one reason they do not spank their children is because “parents are afraid to discipline their children.” For some parents, simply putting a child in timeout is enough to discipline them. When children are spanked, it teaches them that it is their parents who are in charge. When used properly, it is a very effective tool that will teach children to respect authority. Once children realize that they are being punished only for their own good, they will learn to love and respect their parents because they will see that their parents only want the best for them. Even though children need their parents’ love and companionship, they also desperately need their parents’ authoritative guidance and
Physical punishment only teaches that hitting is an acceptable way to resolve conflict. Kids do not truly understand the root cause of their wrong behaviors and not learn a lesson when parents only apply harsh punishment without thoroughly explaining to them. Not only do they suffer physical injuries from spanking but mental sickness and devastation, which is highly likely to cause negative impacts on their future life. Horrific childhood memories may largely affect individuals’ life in a negative way. Furthermore, there is a difference between punishment and discipline, which parents are usually confused about.
Winstok, Z (2013) ‘Israeli Mothers’ willingness to use corporal punishment to correct the misbehaviour of their elementary school children’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol.29, no.1, p.44-65.
Disciplining a child is the responsibility of the parent. There are many ways to discipline a child. A child could be spanked, yelled at, ridiculed, punished, and grounded. They could also be verbally abused as a mode to be disciplined. It is up to the parents to choose how they want to discipline their child. Major influences on how to discipline a child comes from the media, friends, elders, and even books. Most parents choose their method of discipline based on how they were raised as a child. In most cases, it all depends on the ethnicity and culture you were born into. According to Child Rearing Practices in Different Cultures, some cultures believe the father should be the sole disciplinarian, others believe that the role should be shared equally between the mother and father (Everydaylife.com). The methods of discipline may vary slightly with parents of different ethnicities, but ultimately they are similar in the fashion of disciplining the child to teach them right from wrong.
Secondly, corporal punishment in schools should not be permitted is because it can lead to harmful effects in a student’s health. Because according to Science Daily “a child in a school that uses corporal punishment has performed worst in tasks involving executive functioning-- such as, for example: planning, abstract thinking, and delaying gratification.” In addition, according to Social Development, “harshly punitive environm...
Corporal punishment is the physical disciplinary method used by parents, teachers, and school administrators in an effort to correct a child’s undesirable behaviors. The use of physical force is one that is often times controversial and usually evokes very strong reactions. These feelings surface, and opposing views clash, when scandals surrounding corporal punishment hit the media and heated arguments in the comments section of articles emerge. While corporal punishment occasionally makes its way into the limelight, it is a decision all parents are faced with eventually and often times daily. For example, when a toddler is sprawled out on the grocery store floor kicking, hitting, and flinging
In the following paper I will discuss the controversial issue of the use of corporal punishment in schools. Supporters for corporal punishment say that it is a deterrent to misbehavior and delinquency, is needed to maintain discipline, and is not a form of child abuse. The position against corporal punishment says that it is of limited effectiveness, has potentially serious side effects, is a form of child abuse, and should be abolished in all schools. I think the position against corporal punishment should become the social or public policy. Corporal punishment should not be used as a form of discipline, because it leaves psychological and physical harm on children.
Corporal punishment means to educate by implement of physical pain on learners in order to enhance their ability of studying. As we know, students will often follow the instructions which given by their instructor. However, if they don’t, many instructors are likely to introduce the corporal punishment such as hitting, slapping, spanking and kicking rather than promotes the oral education method to force their students to have a better performance. Gradually, corporal punishment have become a widely known phenomenon all over the world. According to the Department of Education’s 2006 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), it clearly showed that a total of 223,190 students without disabilities received corporal punishment in that year around the