Spanking as a Viable Form of Discipline

1970 Words4 Pages

It is early Tuesday morning, and I am involved in my usual early-morning routine: waking up the kids, getting them to wash up and dressed, making breakfast and ensuring they eat it rather than decorate the kitchen with it, and getting them out the door and onto a school bus, while managing - in-between all these activities - to prepare myself for a day at work. This ultimate exercise in multitasking, so familiar to practically all mothers, must be conducted in a limited span of time, where an unexpected delay at any juncture may cause the entire system to fall apart into little pieces. In this situation, when a child is acting out in an unreasonable manner - determined, of course, by a reasonable parent - a quick and decisive punishment might be needed.

Despite various claims by psychologists and sociologists concerning the emotional trauma that physical punishment can cause children in their adulthood, or even teenage years, in my personal experience - shared and agreed upon with my peers - a quick smack on the bottom not only produces the best results in terms of achieving obedience, but also does not carry noticeable emotional scarring that may negatively influence the child's life in the future. This quick spanking does not mean that I love my kids any less or that I would not sacrifice everything I have, including myself, to ensure their well being and happiness. Which brings me to the main point of my argument: spanking can be a viable and effective form of discipline when applied as a measure of

last resort, while being balanced out with love and care under all other regular circumstances.

Even among the opponents of physical punishment, the understanding exists that it is impossible to go through life withou...

... middle of paper ...

...panking does not turn from an occasional, extreme form of discipline of last resort into a methodical, deliberate system of physical and emotional abuse.

WORKS CITED

Chisholm, Patricia. "Punishment gets a scolding: But anti-spank crusaders collide with critics." Maclean's 112 (1999): D20.

Dodson, Fitzhugh. How To Parent. Seattle, WA: Signet, 1978.

Holt, John. "Disciplining children." Patterns for College Writing. Eds. Kirszner, Laurie & Stephen Mandell. 6th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1975: 304-309.

Miller, Alice. "Against spanking." Tikkun 15 (March/April 2000): 17-19.

Peck, Scott, M. The Road Less Traveled. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978.

Pomeranz, Virginia E. and Dodi Schultz. "The First Five Years." Student's Book of College English. Eds. Skwire, David and Frances Chitwood. 4th ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1986: 194-196.

Open Document