Essay on Spanking as a Form of Child Punishment

Spanking has been long used by parents all over the world as a standard way of disciplining their children. In the United States alone, more than 60% of parents discipline their children through spanking (Pinheiro, 2006). Most parents believe in spanking as the only effective way to punish a child for misbehaving and wrongdoing. Different sources have different meanings of what spanking is. Spanking is regarded as a form of punishment that instills physical pain to a child, mostly a minor. Spanking may take different forms from using an open hand to hit a child to more severe cases such as using objects including but not limited to belts, wooden spoons, and slippers. This form of punishment mostly bears some form of religious, socio-economic, or even past experience with punishment ideologies and beliefs among those parents who practice it (Gershoff, 2012). Most parents' use smacking and spanking as an outlet of anger that comes along with being fatigued depressed or stressed up. The pent-up anger also increases the chances of the parents spanking their children repeatedly in future. The United Nations, therefore, advocates for parents who smack or spank their children to be jailed as these practices result in severe negative effects on these children. Spanking results in anxiety, anti-social behavior, depression, as well as more aggressive behavior in children. Parents should, therefore, consider alternative ways of disciplining their children such as grounding them or even assigning tasks and duties to them as opposed to inflicting and instilling pain on them.

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Studies reveal that most children prefer reasoning as opposed to punishment through spanking. This is especially the case with a study conducted in the United Kingdom where children were asked the form of punishment that they preferred between physical punishment and punishments that did not result in physical pain. Further research has shown that, in fact, reasoning, as opposed to physical punishment results in a better state of mind and improved mental health among children under study. Practicing forms of punishment that do not result in physical pain also creates a positive relationship between children and their parents (Durrant, 2012). Children from homes that do not practice corporal punishment also exhibit fewer instances of aggressive behavior compared to their counterparts from homes that prefer this form of disciplinary action.

Disciplining by instilling pain has numerous impairments on children and their development. The aggressive behavior coupled with depression as well as anxiety depicted by children who undergo such harsh punishments usually results in ripple effects such as drug and substance abuse as well as low self-esteem (Durrant, 2012). Durrant points out that this form of severe punishment affects the children's external behavior as they tend to respond to the pain by developing some form of aggression towards the practice and those who perpetuate it. A study conducted among children between the age of 5 and 10 in the United Kingdom to know what and how they felt towards spanking as a form of punishment solicited negative response towards the use of force and cause of pain as a form of punishment. Most of the children interviewed said that smacking and spanking is a horrid practice as it resulted in severe pain. Most of them said that spanking made them feel horrible inside while some said that they felt as if they were hit with a hammer. The accumulation of such feelings and distress over time can result in severe mental illnesses related to inflicting of pain and use of force as a way of disciplining children (Gershoff, 2012).

The depression, anxiety, and aggressiveness with time result in drug and substance abuse among victims of such painful practices. The University of Manitoba conducted a research in 2012 which indicated a strong correlation between people who underwent severe physical punishment during their childhood years and dependency on drugs and drug abuse. The research states that overdependence on drugs was as a result of most of those under study trying to find a way out of their depression and anxiety. Drugs made them feel better, at least for a while. This momentary satisfaction results in addiction since that is the only way available for the addicts to suppress their depression. The research also indicated increased levels of domestic violence as those who underwent physical punishment showed increased levels of aggression and violence towards people they had intimate relationships with and their fellow family members.

Corporal punishment in homes is, therefore, not a solution to correcting children's inappropriate behavior. Vast research has indicated that punishment by instilling pain is not effective in improving the behavior of children. It only serves to increase levels of resentment and anxiety among young people. It is, therefore, paramount that parents adopt a different and humane way of disciplining their children when they exhibit behaviors that require punishment. Reasoning between parents and their children and using methods such as grounding and duty assignment have been shown to be highly effective in correcting inappropriate behavior in children. As such, spanking as a form of punishment should be done away with all over the world and children subjected to forms that have been proven to be effective in correcting them.

Works Cited

Durrant, Joan, and Ron Ensom. "Physical punishment of children: lessons from 20 years of research." Canadian Medical Association Journal 184.12 (2012): 1373-1377.

Gershoff, Elizabeth T., et al. "Longitudinal links between spanking and children's externalizing behaviors in a national sample of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American families." Child development 83.3 (2012): 838-843.