The NFL suspended Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson for the rest of the football season for violating the NFL Personal Conduct Policy for inflicting “abusive discipline” on his 4-year old child. Washington Post’s reporter Des Bieler’s article The Details of Adrian Peterson’s Arrest are Disturbing, summarizes a CBS Houston report that vividly describes how the football player “grabbed a tree branch…[and] removed the leaves and struck the child repeatedly” thus resulting in many injuries including cuts and bruises to his “back, buttocks, ankles, legs, and [privates].” Bieler also writes that Peterson defended himself by stating that he merely punished his child in the same way his own parents did when he was a child. Although parents …show more content…
Alan Kadzin, Yale University’s Professor of Child Psychiatry and Director of Yale Parenting Center, as cited in A Surprising Number of Americans Still Spank Their Kids written by Time Magazine’s Denise Foley, believes that “spanking can be destructive long before it becomes a clear cut case of child abuse.” He supports this with his research that indicates that spanking can “predict” future mental and physical health problems. Additionally, individuals who were spanked died at a younger age of “cancer, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses.” Dr. Murray Strauss, a University of New Hampshire in Durnam professor of sociology and co-director of the Family Research Laboratory, also describes in the article Pros/Cons: Spanking by Jessica Pauline Ogilvie, how this induces the child to be at a higher risk for “committing juvenile crime, assaulting other kids …and hitting their dating or [domestic] partner[s].” Dr. Strauss also describes that spanking “violates” a child to grow free from assault as this leaves traumatic implications and increases the risk of mental illnesses such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or …show more content…
However, individuals do this because the idea or just the thought of spanking is used as a fear tactic. Ruben Navarrette of CNN explains in the article, Spanking Isn’t Child Abuse; It’s Common Sense that “fear is essential to respect”. A child will refuse to comply with this unless they “at some level” fear the reprehension for refusing to do so. The fear of the consequences, humiliation, disappointment, and even the tool used to implement the punishment bleeds through a child’s mind and scares him right into following the rules. By doing this, parents prepare their children for the real world where individuals receive punishment for bad behavior. Navarrette narrates his own personal experiences with the ways his parents and grandparents did the same thing, and thus this prevented them from getting in trouble with the law, joining gangs, and disturbing individuals with reckless behavior. He wants individuals to understand, that in this day and age, the aspect of respect is absent in many American households and children treat their parents as if they both are equals, by either ordering their parents around or demanding them to get what they want. Parents need to be strong and control their misbehaving children into respecting them who will in return obey and avoid committing devious
Harvard Medical School . "The Spanking Debate." Harvard Mental Health Letter (2002): 1-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 April 2011.
Generally speaking there Is a difference between spanking aka discipline and child abuse. If a child is told after every mistake what was wrong and why they're being punished it does not damage their mental health. The child will no longer look at their parents with the eyes of distrust. Comparatively spanking is not a positive action so it will not held positive results unless it is accompanied by an explanation as to why one was punished. In fact ,I have four siblings, the eldest boy was spanked for his actions. He ended up being engaged in dishonest activities, and has anger issues. Whereas the youngest boy was barley spanked and he never was involved in any crimes and similarly has a very calm demeanor. Also spanking is just one action
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
According to a leading researcher in the field of pediatrics, mothers who spank their 3-year-old children may be increasing their child’s risk of aggressive behavior over the next few years. Spanking is the most detrimental form of punishment for 3-year-old children, considering the effects produced in the spanked children either currently, or in the future. Spanking has been a common form of discipline for many years. As research on the negative effects of spanking continue to surface, spanking becomes less common. Some of these negative effects are: the child does not understand the reasons to behave appropriately, but instead avoids the behavior in fear of spanking, spanking in 3-year-olds can lead to far more aggression at age 5, and it's a form of discipline that becomes less effective with repeated use.
People say spanking can be harmful to a child’s health. They have placed laws in Washington State in regards to spanking and other corporal punishments. But why, why all the fuss, spanking couldn’t be that bad could it? There must be studies to prove that spanking can cause bad child behavior otherwise why would there be laws on this madder? What are the opinions of the experts, and their methods of disciplining children?
Spanking, a fictitious form of child abuse, is an appropriate action toward unruly children. It is a popular practice used to instill discipline and values in children, and is more effective than talking to or yelling at the child or placing the child in “time out” sessions. In the long run, spanking causes no damage to the child’s mental or physical health. Instead, it creates a basis for good behavior.
Critics of spanking need to understand that spanking and abuse are not the same. Spanking is a quick squat on the buttock that causes temporary pain. Child abuse is physical injury such as beating, kicking, or punching a child with cruel intent. Psychiatrist William Glasser makes a distinction between the two. Glasser explains, “Discipline is directed at the objectionable behavior, and the child will accept its consequences without resentment.” By contrast, he defined punishment as, “A response that is directed at the individual” (qtd. in Dobson 96). Spanking allows room for forgiveness and reconciliation. Abuse comes from a place of hostility. It is harsh and leaves little room for forgiveness or reconciliation. Yes, spanking may cause brief discomfort, but it is not the same as beating, punching, or kicking a child.
Holden (2002) reviewed Gershoff’s (2002) meta-analyses of eighty-eight (88) studies and noted that there were both positive and negative outcomes associated with the punishment of spanking. According to Gershoff’s (2002) analysis, the one positive outcome was immediate compliance by the child (Holden, 2002). This result was found to be consistent in five (5) studies. Immediate compliance was defined as the child complying to the parents directive within five (5) seconds. In stark contrast, there were four (4) negative outcomes. The analysis showed a negative effect on the quality of the parent child relationship, the child’s mental health, the child’s perception of being a victim of physical child abuse, and also impacted aggression in adulthood (Holden, 2002).
First of all, spanking does not lead to violence. Our surrounding world and media do. "The average sixteen-year- old has watched 18,000 murders during his formative years, including a daily bombardment of stabbings, shootings, hangings, decapitations, and general dismemberment" (Meier 34). It seems unjust to blame parents who are trying to raise their children properly for today's violence. If a child touches a hot stove he does not become a more violent person because of it, he just learns not to do it again because he learned a valuable lesson from the pain (Meier 34).
Children are abused, in part, because they are unable to defend themselves against stronger and more powerful adults (Barnett, Miller-Perrin, Perrin 61). Researchers only recently have recognized that spanking is used primarily with young children and that the incidence and severity of spanking often diminishes by the time children are 8-10 years of age (Day 80).
Swat! The entire store tries not to stare at the overwhelmed mother spanking her three-year-old whaling son. As if the screaming tantrum wasn't enough of a side show at the supermarket. This method, or technique perhaps, has been around for decades, even centuries. Generations have sat on grandpa’s lap and listened to the stories of picking their own switch or getting the belt after pulling off a devilish trick. So why then has it become a major controversy in the past few decades? The newest claim is that spanking and other forms of physical punishment can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury and mental health problems for children. Brendan L. Smith uses many case studies and psychologists findings in his article “The Case Against Spanking” to suggest that parents refrain from physically punishing their children due to lasting harmful effects.
Spanking is a disciplinary act that has been used by parents for years now. It does not seem like a big deal at the time, but spanking does have long term effects that can affect the child even when he or she is a adult. Spanking whether it is appropriate for parents or any guardian of a child should be allowed to spank their child or not. There is a lot of controversy because parents say kids need to be disciplined when they are behaving badly. Others say parents shouldn 't spank their child because they long-term outcome is worse and they are not teaching the child a lesson. Some parents agree with these specialist and don 't spank their child but use other ways of discipline that doesn 't involve hurting
Smith, B. L. (2012). The case against spanking. American Psychological Association, 43(4), 60. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/spanking.aspx
Some people believe spanking a child is child abuse, and that it causes the child to grow up aggressive and violent. This would mean that every child that is spanked during their developmental stages will grow up to be an example of bad behavior. However, there is no actual data or information that can confirm that spanking a child will cause a child to grow up to be violent or too aggressive. Children have been trained to obey rules or a set code of behavior for centuries. It is the best way to mold a child to be a respectable adult, and they can pass on the behavior to their future children. It may not always happen, but its pretty effective.
Even though most people are split on the issue, the fact still stands that spanking and child abuse tends to go hand-in-hand with violence in the future. When you hear of someone disciplining a child, you typically assume the child got a spanking. It’s actually really sad that we, as humans, assume that. Think about it though - if it actually came down to it that there were real laws set in place against spanking, what would come next? There are no true ways to put a halt to spanking as a form of punishment considering it would be too difficult to actually enforce such laws. In conclusion, spanking may or may not have a direct correlation to violent futures, but it can definitely be a huge factor to it.