Physical Punishment vs. Communication

973 Words2 Pages

Physical Punishment vs. Communication Works Cited Missing Many parents say physical punishment works on improving behavior or teaching a child a lesson. These parents think this is the only way to discipline a child. So as years pass more parents tend to use this strategy to discipline their own children. According to the Health Update, “one of four 10-16 year olds or 6.2 million children is a victim of assault or abuse every year” also “one-third of the children surveyed said that they were assaulted or abused or that someone had tried to victimize them in the previous year” (Lawton 10). Physical abuse is not effective for any child. Another statistic according to the Public Health article wrote “nearly half of abused and neglected children were six years old or younger” and “one million children in 48 states were victims of abuse and neglect in 1994, a 27 percent increase over 1990” (Montague, Pitman 10). Some may say this is the only way and it really does work but do these parents actually see what is happening to their child? The following will give a few reasons of what can happen to a child whose parent uses physical punishment. The parents who physically punish their child are mentally, physically and verbally abusing their child. According to the Public Health article, Montague and Pitman have said that about 5 percent of children were mentally/emotionally abused. The parents who physically punish their child can mentally change the way the child thinks. When these parents abuse the child, the child tends to have low self-esteem. For example, the child may not think highly of himself/herself. As a result this child may show he/she has no self-esteem by looking at the way he/she presents himse... ... middle of paper ... ...appropriate way to approach a child. There are many other strategies available that work other than being physical because being physical can do a lot to a person even if they really didn’t deserve it. Discussing and explaining carefully the situation and listening can be a way to get through to a child because the child will tend to be more open and understanding about what he did wrong and learn from it. Another way of resolving situations or preventing situations is by talking to the child through lectures given to the child over and over or even giving real life stories related to the situation. There are so many options available to get through a child, and I don’t think physical punishment has to be one of them. In order to stop this physical punishment, first the abuse cycle has to be broken. Once the cycle is broken, who knows how children will behave.

Open Document