Corporal Punishments at Home Analysis Essay (Essay Sample)

Student Name
Ranne Freese
ENGL-1302-English composition II
Corporal Punishments at Home
Introduction
Corporal punishments are very common in the United States. According to Gershoff (pg. 539), 81% of the parents feel that it is their duty, if not their right, to physically punish their children. Spanking, slapping and other forms of physical punishments continue to be socially acceptable in many states where it is seen as legal. Most traditional households also see the need to inflict a little pain on children to deal with their disobedience and other misbehaviors.
However, more and more parents are coming to the awareness of the adversities of corporal punishments. Even more countries are prohibiting the advocacy of physical disciplinary measures in their educational institutions and also at home. Sweden was the first country to ban corporal punishments in 1979 (Solheim, 147). Since then more countries such as Brazil and Germany have followed suit. Currently 53 countries around the globe have prohibited corporal punishments. In the United States, corporal punishment is still legal federally. However this comes to variation in different states. States such as New Mexico and North Carolina were imposed a ban on physical punishments. Generally most Northern States are coming to the knowledge of the harmful effects of corporal punishments. Southern States, on the other hand, continue to allow the use of physical punishments at home and in school.
Research done disputes the sentiments put forward by most parents with regards to the value of physical punishments. More studies continue to point to the detrimental consequences of corporal punishments in the long term development of children. Physical disciplinary measures have been found out to lead to have long term effects such as aggressive behavior, and mental disorders in the youth.
Effects of Corporal Punishments
First and foremost, corporal punishments leads to aggressive behavior in children. The use of corporal punishments leads children to see physical violence as a solution to misconduct. It is, therefore, inevitable that most of them turn to violence to as a solution to their problems, when they are wronged, for example. Research also showed that most children only find it necessary to respect their parents because of the power they have in physically disciplining them (Turner, 160). Such mindsets are the ones that mold aggressive behavior in the adult life of these kind of children. They feel that the only why they can have power and respect at school or in their marriages is if their physical strength over the other party is manifested. These kind of punishments are hence detrimental beca use they lead to long-term aggression instead of teaching important lessons to the children.
In the same line of thought, corporal punishments are more likely to weaken parent-child relationship. Children who are frequently disciplined physically, find it hard to approach their parents or guardians for whatever they need (Turner, 164). They are always fearful that they might talk or act in an unacceptable manner which may cause more physical punishments for them. This loss of contact, that is important in nurturing love and care in the child, is consequently lost. Children who are raised in this type of manner learn little about being empathetic because it was never reciprocated to them. They become more susceptible to violence because of this. Furthermore, they may also grow bitter and want to get rid of the heaviness inside by subjecting it on others. According to Turner (164), the children who were raised with violence were most likely to impose the same pain to others, even the people they cared for. Corporal punishments clearly lead to the nurturing of violent children.
Additionally, corporal punishments nurture the habit of seeking short term solutions instead of long term solutions. These kind of punishments have been found out to be effective only during the time of subjectivity. The children, therefore, also develop the habit to look for solutions that only solve their problems at that point in time, even if it has effects in the long term. Alternative methods such as setting future expectations are more visionary in developing the character of the child, not making them obedient only at that point in time. It is consequently vivid that physical punishments do not provide durable solutions.
Secondly, physical punishments have long term psychological effects on children. The detachment and feelings of being unloved increase their susceptibility to depression and anxiety, as mentioned earlier. Most of the times these children feel unloved and unappreciated by their parents. This lack of foundational and primary love in them makes them more emotionally vulnerable to others. They are always in the hunt to fill this void that was never filled by their parents, even through people who do not actually care for them. To them it always seems that nobody cares. In the process they end up with feelings of anxiety, depression and loneliness. Corporal punishments clearly have more adversities than solutions in parenting.
Furthermore, slapping, spanking, and other methods of discipline create a cycle of violence. As stated earlier, children who are disciplined in this manner tend to look fo solutions in the realm of violence. They will, therefore, be quick to use the same methods of discipline when they get their own children. In a way, it creates a cycle of violence in a generation. The cycle can only be broken through the knowledge of the effects of corporal punishments.
Moreover, this method loses effectiveness overtime. When the children grow up, they become used to being beaten up and, therefore, fail to comply. At times the detachment these kind of children feel towards their parents leads them to intentionally do wrong to show them that they no longer have power over them. Corporal punishments, therefore, only prove to be functional at certain points of time- that is when the child is younger.
Justifications of Corporal Punishments
Contrarily, supporters of corporal punishment have argued that that they are mainly done from a point of care and that they help maintain the respect between parents and children.
Firstly, skeptics argue that the sentiments around corporal punishments are the ones that matter not the actual punishment. Turner (225), argues through John Locke’s and Ido Weijer’s philosophical works that corporal punishments are meant to make the child feel the guilt and the shame of his disobedience, not necessarily inflict the pain. She argues that critics of corporal punishment are more focused on the pain caused to the child and not the reluctance the child begins to feel towards the mistake.
However, this argument can be refuted by the fact that despite this point of view, the results intended are usually not achieved. The judgement of the child feeling the guilt and the pain is not what is actually happening on the ground. Research done shows that children who are physically disciplined only tend to act obediently in the presence of their parents. When they are away then they feel freer to engage in mischief (Turner, 162). It is evident through this that physical punishments do not show the children the difference between right or wrong, and they only choose what is right because of fear- fear that if they make any alternative decision, they may be beaten up. Raising a child this way is therefore deficient in instilling the virtue of self- control in the child.
In relation to the skeptical view of seeing physical punishment from the motive point of view, the love intended is not being received from the other end. Children have a less intellectual capacity than the adults, and they therefore do not understand the need of instilling pain to yield love. Most of this children feel detached from their parents and become emotionally unstable which is detrimental to people who may take advantage of them.
Secondly, the skeptics also argue that physical punishments are effective ways to maintain the respect between parents and children. Other lenient forms of discipline have been known to nurture children who feel free to do wrong. It has also been argued that these type of children feel more at ease to talk back to their parents because they know that they will only be summoned or probably taken to the naughty corner.
However, not using corporal punishment does not mean not disciplining the child at all. Methods such as redirecting and setting future expectations are aimed at modelling children’s behavior on how they should react in different scenarios. They grow up knowing by heart what is wrong or right, and at what times. This type of critique tends to blame disrespectful behavior in children not physically punished, on the failure to use corporal punishments. However, not using corporal punishments does not mean the loosening of all restrictions. It means the use of other measures that nur