Parents often harm their children with their open hands as a disciplinary tactic. However, it creates more harm than good. Several parents chose disciplinary approaches simply because they were raised without considering their effects. According to an article by O’Donnell, spanking is humiliating, inflicts physical damage, and causes resentment and aggression in children (O’Donnell, 2019). Spanking can be seen as a form of terrorism where children are taught that problems can be solved through violence imposed on the weak by strong individuals. According to Caron’s New York Times article, spanking is detrimental and ineffective (Caron 2018). The most important relationship to a child is her parents, which should not be built on fear and violence through acts such as spanking.
Spanking does not help children to learn contemporary social skills and self-control. Instead, it increases their chances of developing behavioral problems in the future. According to a report by Dewar on spanking children, spanking acts as a disruption of positive relationships and makes children adopt defiance and an anti-social intention (Dewar, 2021). Children are still growing and learning to regulate their impulses and emotions; therefore, they require positive reinforcement to stay connected.
Spanking teaches children ways of avoiding being caught instead of generating forms of positive behaviors. In addition, it causes physical harm, which can be viewed as a violation of children’s rights and should be eliminated globally through legislative measures (Dewar, 2021). Spanking children may seem to work because children may fear being hit, but it proves detrimental in the long run since it makes a child’s behavior worse. It delays brain development and increases stress in children. Moreover, it raises the gap in the parent-child relationship. Overall, spanking is detrimental to children and should be outlawed.
References
Caron, C. (2018). Spanking is ineffective and harmful to children, pediatricians’ group says (Published 2018). The New York Times – Breaking News, US News, World News, and Videos. Web.
Dewar, G. (2021). Spanking children: Why does it happen, and what are the effects? PARENTING SCIENCE. Web.
O’Donnell, L. M. (2019). How can parents discipline without spanking? Nemours KidsHealth – the Webs.