Forms of Discipline: Punishment is too Aggressive

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Recommended: Effect of spanking on parent-child relationship

In recent studies, researchers have found that ninety percent of parents spank their children; yet, seventy-three percent of mothers report that their child will continue to repeat their behavior they were disciplined for (Ogilvie). Based of this information, the effectiveness of this form of discipline seems to be incredibly low. Now consider another fact: how harmful is this to children physically and mentally? Would this affect them as they grow up and even continue to affect them into their adulthood? If it fails to do anything beneficial, obviously, unforeseen consequences will be the result. Spanking children is not effective as a punishment and should be replaced with different methods to punish with lesser negative effects on young children.

Everyone has heard the phrase “monkey see, monkey do”, and children are definitely victims of copying what their parents do (Ogilvie). Spanking does not teach right from wrong, unless a parent feels the need to let their children become aggressive and violent, by the example they set in place for their child (Park). In a study led by Catherine Taylor, it was found that a child at age five that is spanked twice during one month would become more aggressive by fifty percent (Park). Spanking sets up a continuous cycle of bad behavior because this punishment causes fear rather than understanding of what they had done wrong (Park). Spanking a child can change the relationship between child and parent, the child will fear being hit again and learn to lie instead of learning to do what is right (Ogilvie). This poor disciplinary action can lead a child to not do what is right, but to never learn and do wrong.

Children, at young ages, depend on parents to guide them on how to behave in li...

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... problems. If parents could push this form of abuse out of their habits and incorporate something that works in the long run, children would understand their wrongdoings. The seventy-three percent of the children who repeat their behavior after being spanked could easily learn better and drop that percentage if parents could teach themselves different ways.

Works Cited

Elliott, Josh. “Is Spanking Okay?.” ABC.com. Good Morning America. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.

Ogilvie, Jessica P. "Pro/Con: Spanking." Latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. 26 Dec. 2011. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

Park, Alice. "The Long-Term Effects of Spanking." Time.com. Time. 3 May 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

Rochman, Bonnie. "Why Spanking Doesn't Work." Time.com. Time. 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

Toth, Sheree L. “When does Spanking Become Abuse?.” Cnn.com. CNN. 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.

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