Punishing the Youth: The Effects of Corporal Punishment

            Corporal Punishment has been around for as long as we can remember. Back in the early 1900’s, teachers would often whip their students with rulers or other devices. This was an effective means of making sure the students were staying on task and not disobeying the authority of their teachers. Today, that has stopped due to laws banning those types of punishment in a school environment. We are very thankful for the getting rid of spankings and we do not have to worry about that while at school. However, at home the children are not as lucky. If a child acts up and the parents want to teach their child a lesson, they can use corporal punishment to get their point across, such as a spanking. Spankings could be used by slapping with the hand or they could use a paddle which could leave a mark. This often teaches the child a better lesson than just simply sending the child to time-out as it makes them not want to do whatever they just did so their mom or dad will not spank them again. Spankings can also have a negative effect on a child’s psyche and if the parents are not careful, they can take the spankings too far and could lead to child abuse. Child abuse will affect the whole family.  Studies have shown that children who are spanked have shown greater signs of increased child aggression and antisocial behavior, and parents may not know how far to carry out these spankings and it can often lead to child abuse.

            We all know that children tend to take after their parents and tend to follow the examples by their parents whether we know about it or not. As we grow up, we sometimes tend to do the same thing our parents did because we are used to it. If the child’s parents spank their child, then the child may think that spanking is a common thing and it should be done all the time. The child may see some other child their age acting up. They may be led to believe that using force is a good way to teach them a lesson, and they may believe that spanking is right. This could lead to increased child aggression, causing them to start hitting other kids just because their parents are using aggressive behavior on them. Parents should be careful what they do in front of their children, and if you do do something that you regret in front of them, make sure you talk to them immediately and tell them that you made a mistake and you will never do it again, even if you do it many more times.

            Experiences of spankings can lead the child to a life of solitude. Depending on how far the parents go in spanking their child, the spankings can negatively impact his/her life. The physical abuse the child receives may cause the individual to believe that society is evil. As a child, we only remember the moments that were either extremely positive or negative. We all remember getting spanked as a child and how much we hated it. The child might believe that if their own parents are hitting you, then everybody is going to hit you. The child may grow up to believe that everybody is bad and may become afraid of making contact with others from our society. While everyone is working together, that child may be the one who is off to the side, playing by himself. This is caused by his view of society based on the spankings he received as a child.

            Although most parents know when to stop with the spankings and know that their point has been made, some do not. Sometimes, after a hard day of work, a parent may not want to be disturbed and will take out his frustrations on an innocent child. Depending on the relationship between a parent and a child, that affects how the parent will deal with you when you get in trouble. One factor that has gained national attention is when a child’s father or mother is an alcoholic. The father comes home after work and drinks too many beers and then has no idea what he is doing. Once the child comes into contact with the father, he begins to physically abuse that child. Even if the child has not done anything wrong, he does not care. He will take out any frustrations he has on his child. This could turn into a daily occurrence, and the mother and/or child may be too scared to do anything about it. You should not be afraid to call a child-abuse hotline and gain some control in the family. If they do anything, then the father might become worse and do more physical harm to the whole family. Sometimes, they don’t do anything because they are used to it now. This problem greatly affects the whole family more than any one individual.

            Some argue that spankings can be an effective means of trying to teach a kid a valuable lesson. If a child acts up or does something wrong, a simple spanking or making them feel pain will make them realize what they have done was wrong. Although this is very effective, it is not the right thing to do. Just because they act up does not mean that you should physically punish your child. It will send the wrong message to your child and could affect their behavior dramatically. Two wrongs do not make a right. Just because they do something wrong does not mean you need to physically abuse them. Sometimes, physically hurting them may make them believe that placing physical harm on another individual is the right thing to do. Parents should not let that happen to their child.

            I can recall being spanked many times over my life after I did something wrong. The spankings would always hurt and I would always cry afterwards. I would always feel miserable afterwards and would hate my mom or dad. I would tend to learn my lesson but a simple time-out could work just as well and would not make me as sad afterwards as a spanking. The time-outs would separate you from your friends and make you think by yourself. I would often feel lonely since I was away from my friends. Time-outs are just as effective as a spanking because they both make you feel the same way but spankings make you feel worse emotionally and can affect you for hours or days.

            “Punishment is defined as the application of a negative stimulus to reduce or eliminate a behavior. There are two types typically used with children: punishment involving verbal reprimands and disapproval and punishment involving physical pain, as in corporal punishment” (Vol. 101 p.5). Parents use verbal reprimands to alter undesired behavior. These can be effective in immediately halting or reducing these behaviors. If used too frequently, they can lose their effectiveness because they provide attention to the child. Corporal punishment involves using physical pain to stop a child’s bad behavior. It ranges from spankings to touching a hot stove, and can be child abuse. Its discipline strategy is controversial. 90% of American families have reportedly used spankings as a means of discipline. Some forms of physical punishment are often delivered in anger with intent to cause pain and should never be used. Those forms of punishment are unacceptable and are dangerous to the health and well-being of the child. Parents should never have to lower themselves to strike their child. I know from experience if a child gets on your nerves, sometimes you want to kill them, but you should know better than to even come close to hurting your child.

            The American Academy of Pediatrics states, “Because of the negative consequences of spanking and because it has been demonstrated to be no more effective than other approaches for managing undesired behavior in children, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents be encouraged and assisted in developing methods other than spanking in response to undesired behavior” (Vol. 101 p. 6). They feel that spankings can be associated with higher rates of physical aggression, and the children are at a greater risk of using crime and violence. The more children are spanked, the more likely they will spank their own children, and the more likely they will use other unacceptable forms of corporal punishment, such as hitting their spouse. Putting a child into a certain environment as a child may effect that person in the long term. A strained relationship with a father or mother may result in not wanting to do the same thing with their child. Spankings can lead to altered child-parent relationships which sometimes can never be recovered.

            The Academy also explored the relationship between spankings at an early age with behavior problems near the time to enter school. They concluded after their studies that, “[…] spanking frequency before age 2 is significantly and positively associated with child behavior problems at school age” (Vol. 113 p.2). This shows that spankings do indeed have a negative impact on a young child’s life. The parents may not always realize it, but it can alter your outlook on life.