Corporal Punishment.. Tue Jun 6 00:10:49 2000
I've written too many speeches on this issue and I've written too many papers on this issue, and I've also spoken of it too much with my friends, that I thought it's about time I mentioned it on here. The topic is of Corporal Punishment. Now that's NOT capitol punishment (some people confuse the two). Here's the thing, Corporal punishment simply put means "spanking a child". Capitol Punishment deals with the death penalty. Now that, that's out of the way I'll talk about my views towards corporal punishment.
From my perspective, a parent shouldn't spank a child. The only thing spanking ever does is that it makes the child more aggressive and makes the child feel rejected and disliked, and stubborn. Studies have shown that parents who spanked their children severly had their children grow up to be adults with low-self esteem. Now this cannot be guaranteed, but it can happen. That's the same with most cases that deal with Behavioral psychology (you can't guarantee something, but you can say that it will be likely!).
Most people think that if you don't spank a child at all, he or she will be a spoiled brat. Well that could be true..but that's not what I believe. In fact, what I'm promoting is that, we *should* spank a child ONLY when it is really really needed. The times when spanking is really really needed is when a child does something that puts the child in danger. Say for example, if the child sticks his/her hand in the electric outlet, or on a hot stove; here spanking could save the child's life. But only here should spanking be used. Otherwise, other situations can be dealth with, without spanking a child. Also, it has been shown through studies, that if a parent does not spank a child, the child grows up to be a less agressive adult. A study done a few years ago by Eda Leshan, proved this. She studied Indian Tribes and some countries in which spanking is against the law. She found that also in these tribes and countries, the crime rate was really low.
Now, to talk about alternate forms of punishment instead of spanking. For one, the parent can send the child to his/her room, they can take away the child's allowance, or they can take away the child's privileges to watch t.v, etc. Now, I know most of you out there are thinking..Huh, so what if I send the child to his/her room...They'll just sit in their room for a bit, and then be done with the punishment (with no harm done!). But another thing I meant to mention is that, in order for this alternate form of punishment to work, the parent MUST talk to the child afterwards, the parent must ask the child why he/she was sent to the room, the parents must ask the child if he/she comprehended as to why they were punished. And if the child understands that, then does this form of punishment work.
Now onto another thing. Even when a parent "must" spank a child, the parent should still give a reasoning as to why the child was spanked afterwards. This reasoning and explanation should follow after the spanking as well, and should also include the child comprehending the reason for the punishment. Here too, will this type of punishment work.
Lastly...I'm not one who believes in totally no punishment, nor do I belive that we need to whip a child everytime he/she makes a mistake. I believe in between a bit...and sometimes that's what can make a child a great adult.
By spanking, I don't mean "whipping" a child to death, but rather I mean it as a parent simply slapping a child on the butt, etc.