Corporal Punishment for Children is a Neccessary Evil
...ll wellbeing of the individual. Children who are more often and more harshly hit are likely to become aggressive or develop mental problems. Psychologist Elizabeth Thompson Gershoff, Ph.D., analyzed a total of 88 studies on corporal punishment and its effect on childhood behaviours and practices. In the childhood stages it was noted that the children exhibited increased aggression and anti-social behaviour. The analysis also showed that between childhood and adulthood, not only was there an increase in aggression and antisocial/criminal behaviour, there was also deterioration in mental health. Dr. Gershoff proved through her analysis that children who had been victims of corporal punishment were more likely to eventually become abusers of their spouse and/or children than children whose parents opted for other methods of correction. Hitting children is not tender or compassionate, it is not better than correcting them in ways that do not hurt. It does not model the way we want our children to act. We definitely would not tell our children that ‘hitting is right’ or ‘hitting is a good thing.’ We do not believe it is a good thing to hit people, yet we behave as if it is a good way to correct our children. The way a spanking looks and feels must be confusing for a child. Parents are their example of right and good. Parents’ behaviour is their example of what love looks and feels like. Hitting a child says to them: ‘it is alright to hit people…even loved ones’ and ‘when you want to control someone, hit them.’ When we then turn around and tell them that hitting is wrong, we reinforce the idea that it is alright to do something that is wrong. What do we really want them to learn? It is actually even more distressing for a child to feel loved by the very adults who perpetrate violence against him/her. . Spanking teaches children to avoid certain behaviours out of fear of punishment, it does not teach them to think about right or wrong. All it does is make them afraid to disobey when parents are present. But what happens when the parent is not there to administer punishment? Those same children will misbehave. Hitting our children does not make our social, legal, or moral duties as parents easier; it merely offers a shortcut when speed is a higher priority. Spanking is no more effective than such nonviolent means as explanation or verbal commands. Hitting offers a poor model for handling conflict. It is not surprising that children who are physically punished learn the wrong lessons all too ...