Is It Okay To Spank?
...ot spank my own child. Obviously the reason I was spanked was warranted, because my father was not the kind to beat out of hatred or the like, however because I can recall the details of the spanking and not the reasons, more of my focus was on the pain of the spanking and not on the undesired behavior. When parents are angry they are more likely to want to spank a child. It is almost a primitive reaction to attack, destroy, and lash out. Hitting relieves the negative energy a parent feels. This is dangerous however, and furthermore do we really want our children to be the outlet of our anger? What kind of message does that send to our children? That it is okay to hit? In the “heat of the moment,” it is hard to hard to stop. Sometimes parents don’t realize how hard they have hit their child until welts or bruises develop. At this point the punishment has gone past reprimand to abuse. “If we give ourselves permission to spank, it becomes a quick fix for all kinds of problems; it blocks off the effective use other more productive measures” (Pantley 1). All children can learn from this is fear. Not that what they did was wrong, but that if they do something wrong, swift and painful punishment will be delivered. Spankings can get in the way of a healthy relationship between the child and the parent. Children look up to their parents as heroes. In their eyes, their parents can do no wrong. Therefore if their parents hit, it must be okay. Parents are looked to for security and protection, as teachers, and nurturers. When that bond is broken, by hitting a child, the relationship suffers. It is much easier to damage a relations...