Why Is Spanking Should Not Be Outlawed

Spanking is defined as an act of slapping, especially on the buttocks as a form of corporal punishment for children. It acts as a method of redirecting a child’s behavior. Spanking should not be outlawed because reasoning and taking away privileges may often be ineffective approaches to modify a child’s behavior, especially at a younger age. Parents have the responsibility to keep their children away from grave physical danger, and verbal lectures without consequences are often ignored or forgotten. Because there are various alternatives to corporal punishment, spanking must solely be applied as the last resort of disciplining a misbehaved child.

Despite being legal, spanking must not be motivated by anger, which can result in abuse. Instead, parents must clarify the reason of punishment and logically justify why something is inappropriate or wrong. Prior to spanking, various privileges can be taken away to

prevent willful disobedience. Incentives such as toys may also be awarded as a motivation to obey the rules and maintain positive behavior. As suggested by Diana Baumrind, a psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley, “the kids who acted out as toddlers and preschoolers were more likely to act out later, whether they were spanked occasionally or never” (Bazelon). This implied that spanking do not have an apparent effect on children at a younger age. This
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concept was further evident in Dr. Robert Larzelere’s 38 studies, which found that “spanking posed no harm to kids under the age of 7” (Bazelon).
Critics of spanking often juxtapose spanking and child abuse, believing that one leads to another.

However, Dr. Jared Pingleton, a clinical psychologist and the director for Focus on the Family’s Counseling department, believes that “Though some contend any form of physical correction equates to child abuse, there is a giant chasm between a mild spanking properly administered out of love and an out-of-control adult venting their emotions by physically abusing their child” (Pingleton). Similarly, Christopher Robbins, the founder of a digital publishing company, Familius, which offers books on parenting, stated that “I certainly learned to not do a couple of things because I was spanked. And I do not feel I was done harm because I was spanked. My parents never spanked me prodigiously or did it hard enough that I feel they were being hurtful or mean” (Briggs). Personal testimonies of individuals that were spanked when they were little showed that spanking is effective in altering a child’s behavior when it is done reasonably and without

anger.
Although spanking should remain legal, it should be administered with proper guidelines to ensure that children do not perceive it as unnecessary abuse and become emotionally damaged. Properly justifying the punishment promotes respect rather than fear towards authoritative parents. Outlawing spanking will make parenting significantly more difficult, and could drastically increase the number of child abuse cases committed by angry, impatient parents who refuse to cope with their
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children. Outlawing spanking could also result in a religious uproar because the Bible states, “He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently” (Proverbs 13:24). Controlled, purposeful spanking should be condoned to allow parents to effectively govern and protect children that like to push their limits.