Discipline without Distress - Corporal Punishment - Article Example

Discipline without Distress - Corporal Punishment Introduction Corporal punishment is one of the most ancient forms for administering justice to wrong doers in the community. Corporal punishment is a deliberate act of causing pain to a child in response to anti-social or unacceptable behavior to induce him or her to comply, reform or act responsibly. Corporal punishment takes the form of spanking, slapping, pinching, whipping, smacking chastisements, or raining blows to certain parts of the body. It is usually connected with images of anger, whipping and screams. Target areas for the corporal punishment include the upper back, shoulders, buttocks, and cheeks, palm of the hand and soles of the feet. Open and bare hand, belts, paddles, canes, rods, hairbrush, strap, whip, stick and ruler are some of the elements used to administer corporal punishment. Those perceived mandated to administer corporal punishment are the parents or guardians at home; school, judicial (court or prison authorities) and juvenile administrators. To some people, corporal punishment is convenient, effective, easy and quick way of making a person comply with various commands. It is mostly used to induce children to behave in a socially acceptable manner and do their homework as required by the teacher. However, corporal punishment has been widely criticized for the adverse psychological and physical effects it inflicts on the victims. The opponents argue that it does not encourage long term change of behavior and may have negative residual effects when the child becomes an adult. The opponents of corporal punishment suggest that alternative forms of discipline should be applied rather than spanking. For example, a child should be given after school work; counseling, negotiation skills; timeouts; conflict resolution and mediation skills; imposing consequences and inculcating problem solving skills as needed by them (Rai 2010 p. 1). Furthermore, it is important for parents, guardians or teachers to childproof their homes or school facilities to protect them from breakage because very young children of about two years of age do not have the ability of restraining touching things. Arguments for and against corporal punishment on children An occasional good and unforgettable whack on child’s buttocks can do a lot to convince the misbehaving child that his or her teachers and parents mean what they say. However, it should be used sparingly as a shock treatment to bring back a child that has gone too far to his or her senses. Corporal punishment is a way of administering justice, alternative to other forms of punishment, quicker to administer, increase compliance, appropriate corporal punishment is not injurious and relieves parents’ feelings of anger and frustrations. First, corporal punishment is a way of administering justice. Children have rights and it is wrong to allow one child to violate the rights of others. Laws prevent individuals in the society from participating in anti social behavior. If individuals misbehaves, police are present to arrest and enforce law and order, judges to determine whether one is guilty or not and prisons to punish the offenders. Therefore, when a child fights others in class or disrupts class sessions, it is mandatory to punish the misbehaving child as a way to administer justice against such misbehavior. Second, corporal punishment may be the best alternative form of disciplining. It is a fact that different children respond to different forms of discipline differently. At times, praises, kindness, time-outs, negotiation, withdrawals of privileges, detention, reprimanding and isolation may not work to make a child behave accordingly. Some children do not take other forms of discipline seriously and attempts to use them make children disregard their authority figures. Most children understand respect in terms of pain. Therefore, if a teacher wants to maintain good atmosphere for learning or a parent wants to sustain unity in the family, they may have to administer pain to correct anti- social behavior (Turner 2002). Therefore, corporal punishment must be applied to resolve and reinstate an acceptable behavior in children. This is because a child responds to some pain instantly as compared to negotiation or problem solving. Children are very young and lack the understanding of the world wisdom. Third, corporal punishment is quick to administer. If children are taught to practice rational thinking, it takes time to inculcate problem solving skills especially in their early stages and they may easily forget what they are taught or told. However, according to Farmer and Human Rights Watch (2009, p. 39), corporal punishment does not require long term planning or organization. All what a parent requires is a paddle, an open hand or a cane to administer quick loving beating. The teacher or the parent finds convenience in corporal punishment because it is easily and quickly inflicted. In addition, it can be administered anywhere. It also saves the teacher and the parent the trouble of inventing new ways of punishing the child. Consequently, it is convenient for the child because corporal punishment is quick and does not impose restraint to their normal school activities as well as their play. Fourth, corporal punishment increases compliance. It increases compliance with parents’ commands because perpetrators believe that it is the only language children understand instantaneously. According to Tirana (2009), most parents who were interviewed believed that corporal punishment works best when a child disobey a teacher, parent or guardian after talking to him or her. Furthermore, corporal punishment works best when a child exaggerates bad behavior such as breaking household items or hitting the others. It is most appropriate when the child is at an early stage of growth and development since it helps him or her shape personality. It is better to spank a child than letting him or her suffer more consequences that are more painful and extensive. For example, when a child has been warned to stay away from a hot stove and insist on touching it, the best thing for a loving parent or teacher is to slap the hand of the child before it reaches the hot stove. It is the expression of love to give children temporary sting and make them obey rather than see them burn. If a child runs into the street even after being warned, he or she deserves a sound spanking from a loving teacher or parent rather than see him or her get injured or crippled for life. Fifth, appropriate corporal punishment does not injure or cause death. If corporal punishment is administered reasonably and with good intentions, it does not cause injuries or death. Some people have admitted that when they look back to their childhood days, they do not hate their parents or teachers for the spanking they received during their formative years. They claim that spanking catapulted them to become successful in their lives. The negative impact of corporal punishment is only evident when teachers or parents use excessive force or implements that inflict harm to the body. Headmasters, teachers or the parents should not use canes, spoons, whips or belts to punish their pupils. Instead they should use open hand or less injurious paddles to spank their misbehaving pupils. Furthermore, spanking should be administered quickly and with less than three strokes. The intention of beating, pulling or pinching the ears of a child is to scare him or her and not to hurt. It enables a child to discover and understand his or her mistakes. Berle (2009, p. 82) asserts that when corporal punishment is administered appropriately, it does not cause adverse bodily harm. For example, children between two and six years should be spanked with an open hand. In addition, one must use one or two quick smacks at the buttocks. Sixth, corporal punishment relieves parents’ and teachers’ feelings of anger and frustrations. At times, a child can be a bother to a parent or a teacher. However, when a parent or teacher spanks a child in responses to his or her bad behavior, he or she will feel like the problem has been solved and will feel much better. Corporal punishment should not be abolished just because few parents and teachers abuse it. The abusers must be dealt with according to the law to prevent its abuse. Some policemen abuse their weapons; should elimination of guns and other weaponry be a goal? Cars cause many accidents in the highways. Should people abandon vehicles and walk? The solution is not to eliminate corporal punishment. Instead, appropriate safeguards should be put in place to guide its implementation. A teacher or a parent must evaluate every situation on it own merit to determine the best time and place to administer corporal punishment. Effects of corporal punishment on advantages of corporal punishment The effects of corporal punishment can be overwhelming. Corporal punishment has been effective in making the children comply with the commands and wishes of people in authority, easier and quick to administer, can stop bad behavior instantly, best alternative for disciplining and best for curing bad behaviors in children. First effect of corporal punishment is that it makes children comply. When corporal punishment is applied in moderation, the child does not suffer long time but only experience instant pain that will go away after a short while. A forty five year old father said that he allows teachers to lightly slap his child to instill some fear in him. Pain is strong deterrent to bad behavior in small children. Teachers or parents who face difficult task of sustaining order in the classroom usually resort to corporal punishment. A child especially a boy who is guilty of wrong doing cannot withstand the punishment meted to him in the presence of the whole school by the teacher who desires to make him an example. This is the most humiliating position a boy can be placed and the experience is likely to stick into the minds of other boys witnessing the gruesome experience. Such boys will always dread the power of their teachers and will always try as much as possible to comply with their teachers wishes. The level of discipline in schools where corporal punishment has been administered has been high as compared to other schools where spanking has been banned. According Sommer (1984), absence of corporal punishment at elementary, middle and junior high schools has led to deterioration of discipline in those schools. In addition, spanking has been identified as major ways of reducing suspensions or expulsion of students in school. Secondly, corporal punishment is easier and cheaper to implement. In addition, it does not carry much baggage. It takes less than a minute to spank a child. Other forms of discipline such as minute time-out, inculcating problem solving skills and negotiation demand a lot of time that could have been used for the purpose of learning. Therefore, it can waste a whole lesson or day and may be extremely difficult to recover the learning time. Corporal punishment is better because it is quick to apply and is appropriate in making the child to stop the bad or unacceptable behavior immediately. It saves both the child’s and teacher’s time. A school or a home with very little or no resources for alternative forms of punishment find corporal punishment a viable option. Furthermore, in conditions where there are logistical and financial obstacles, other forms of discipline may not be as appropriate as corporal punishment. Thirdly, corporal punishment can stop bad behavior instantly. If a child is caned, spanked, whip, pinched or slapped in front of the other children it produce two effects. First, the child will learn to comply with acceptable social behavior. Secondly, children who witness the corporal punishment act will also learn to behave well. This is because the child connects the undesirable behavior with pain. In a disciplined classroom, punishment is seldom but if a child misbehaves, quick intelligent action must be implemented to rectify the behavior. For serious misdemeanors, the children must know that they are likely to be given few strokes of the paddle. Fourth, corporal punishment is the best alternative form of disciplining. According to Sommer (1984), praising, kindness, negotiation, reprimanding and timeouts may not work. At times, the children may respond to the inducements to behave appropriately by secretly laughing at them. In this case, a teacher or a parent may have to use corporal punishment or neglect the child and allow him or her to continue the anti-social behavior. Therefore, a parent or a teacher will be guilty of neglect of children under his or her care. There is a point in time that a teacher or a parent must rise up and strike the child to maintain authority and respect among children. If corporal punishment is put aside, a teacher will be affected in three ways. First, the teacher will loose total mastery of his or her pupils. Second, children will begin misbehaving and fails to work harder in class. In addition, they may become careless in observing and learning from the teacher. Consequently, they do their home work haphazardly and become more relaxed in the rules of their behavior. Third, the other pupils and young students may be tainted by one or two colleagues who are unrestrained. Susan who practices loving discipline told John her pupil not to leave his seat and hit the other pupil (Simon) just because he was angry. Susan lovingly and firmly insisted that John return to his seat and sit down. Later when the class was out having cup of tea, Susan took John aside and tried to help him resolve his problem. Despite Susan efforts, John left his seat and hit Simon. Susan gave him the warning and threatened to spank him if he continued hitting other pupils but he could not listen. Susan had no other alternative but to have John bend over and applied two strokes on John’s buttocks with a paddle. John cried and return to his seat. Consequently, the teacher sent a message to other students and John that she was in control and order was maintained. The learning environment prevailed and there was no other disruption. A severe method of punishment was necessary to make the teacher retain control and authority in the class. Corporal punishment is necessary to instill discipline and make the children regard their teachers with some degree of respect. From the above case, it is evident that it is foolish to abolish corporal punishment. To sum it all, corporal punishment produce acute pain that is sufficient to deter the children from doing wrong. The pain can be so intense that even courageous and firm boys will not be able to endure the pain with indifference. Fifth, corporal punishment was found to be a good cure for bad behavior. Corporal punishment was found to be very effective in curing dangerous wall climbing, alcoholism, thumb sucking, jealousy, smoking and suicidal attempt in children (Kurst-Swanger 2008). Opponents of corporal punishment must not only be concerned about the bruises that the children develop after being spanked. They must also voice their concerns on issues such as harassments, muggings, knifing, rapes and even deaths caused by antisocial behaviors that can only be resolved through loving smacking. Disadvantages of corporal punishment There are many disadvantages associated with corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is violent, it cause physical injury, it cause psychological injury, it ay be difficult for a parent to stop, it arouses fear of a parent, it may make a parent or teacher remorseful and there are other better alternatives to instill discipline. First, corporal punishment is violent. The act of hitting a child is violence and teaches children that violence and revenge are solutions to problems that confront them. Children who are frequently spanked become more violent and bullish. The children will not learn tolerance, respect, participation and dialogue as an alternative for solving problems in their lives. Therefore, corporal punishment contradicts feelings of friendliness, love and care between children and those in authority. Children learn to be hostile to those in authority or even to their peers. Corporal punishment does not teach children how to negotiate; solve conflicts; listen actively and speak clearly; show and develop trust or accept differences. Corporal punishment increases the probability of children assaulting the parent in retaliation, especially as they grow older. This is because when the teacher or parent becomes more punitive, the child tends to become more aggressive and competition for power escalates (Straus and Donnelly 2001). Further more the child may vent his or her frustrations on siblings, peer or pets. Second, spanking can injure a child. According to Arnall (2008), improper punishment can be extremely dangerous because it can result in serious harm. Kurst-Swanger (2008, p. 62) claimed that even minor forms of beating can cause permanent disability or even death. It could draw blood, cause scars as well as extensive and severe bruises that make black marks on the body. Other injuries include severe muscle injury; shoulder and wrist bruises; bursting of the eardrums, brain injury when a child is hit on the head; he or she can be injured on the tailbone, sciatic nerve, genitals or the spine when they are hit on the buttocks; he or she may have broken bones, broken blood vessels and joints or ruptured ligaments when the child is slapped. The injuries take days or even weeks to heal and the affected children may not be able to sit (Alice Farmer and Human Rights Watch 2009 p. 41). At times, parents are compelled to take their children to hospital for treatment. Corporal punishment can also aggravate medical conditions of children suffering from physical disabilities. Thirdly, corporal punishment cause psychological injury. When a child is punished and fail to understand the reason behind it, he or she may adapt lower moral internalization. They develop the feelings that nobody love or care for them. The child may develop low self esteem and lack of bodily respect. Furthermore, he or she may harbor feelings of anxiety, anger and vindictiveness. Others become shy and less participative in issues that would have developed them. As a result, affected children may resort to more deviant behaviors causing them more harm as they try to run away from the humiliation caused by spanking. Furthermore, others adopt macho type behaviors to attract false attention. At the extreme cases, some children may turn to drugs or sexual activities as they try to minimize the impacts that corporal punishment has on them. Fourth, it may be difficult for a parent to stop spanking the children even when they are older. Some parents may rely on spanking even when the child is of age and able to reason. As child grows and develops, spanking should be replaced with other forms of disciplining. Furthermore, the more frequent spanking is used, the more it is likely to produce a diminishing effect on the child’s behavior. Therefore, when a child becomes an adult or reaches adolescence, alternative forms of punishment should be applied to change the behavior of a child because corporal punishment will make the grown child feel humiliated and uncared for. Fifth, corporal punishment is that harsh and frequent punishment or unjust punishment arouses the fear of parent, teacher or guardian. Even at a tender of age of two years, children may learn to avoid their parents or teachers rather than seek them out for support. As a result, it may disrupt free flow of information from the parent or teacher to the child and children may start keeping feelings to themselves because they cannot open up to the parents or teachers because they fear them. The child may be forced to lie to escape the punishment. Consequently, the child develops the habit of deceiving and evading issues making him or her develop dishonesty tendencies. The children who fear harsh teachers will not be able to concentrate in class and will always wish that the teacher die. As a result, they would not be able to excel in their studies. Such children dreads going to school and may opt to drop out of school because they cannot stomach the excruciating pain that corporal punishment inflicts. In some other extreme cases, corporal punishment may make children extremely fearful and find it difficult to say no to people who can endanger their lives because they know that they will be beaten. Therefore, they could easily be induced to take drugs, join criminal gangs or do sexual experimentation. Sixth, it may make a teacher or parent to be remorseful. When a parent or a teacher punishes a child in anger, he or she may feel guilty or remorseful and might over compensate by spoiling the child or letting other bad behaviors to slide. This is often the case when the teacher or parents realizes that the child did not deserve the punishment. Seventh, there are other alternatives for instilling discipline that are friendlier. Nonverbal forms of communication such as nodding, smiling or verbal forms like responses such as very good or right provides very strong incentives and build child’s self esteem and confidence. The children should be encouraged to set own rules and identify the consequences that they shall experience for breaking them. This will enable the children to learn how to manage their activities and behaviors on their own. Children learn to be autonomous as they are encouraged to think for themselves, monitor own behavior and allow their own conscience to lead and guide their actions. In addition, children are able to identify, understand and interpret facial expression, gestures and the tones of the voice of their teachers and parents. Therefore, they will change in response to facial and tone variations of their teachers. Effects of corporal punishment on disadvantages of corporal punishment There are negative effects that corporal punishment has on their victims. Corporal punishment teaches children to be violent; it hampers and retards intelligence quotient; it causes physical injury and mental injury; corporal punishment is not a long term solution for antisocial behavior. First, corporal punishment teaches children to be violent when confronted by challenges in life. Violence perpetuates itself as affected children imitate the violent action of their parents and guardians. When a child is beaten, he or she internalizes that violence is a socially acceptable way of settling conflicts. That is why children who are physically abused often react by hitting back whoever threatens or caused them harm. Violent behavior can generate a cycle of violence in children resulting in fighting in schools as each child fight to gain supremacy and control over the other children. Physically assaulted children are more likely to fight others in school as compared to children who experience little or no violence. In addition, corporal punishment increases the chance of children assaulting their parents or guardians in retaliation when they grow bigger and older. Research has revealed that children who were regularly hit were more likely to hit their siblings, children, spouses or friends. Children who were spanked regularly reported higher levels of aggression, violence, anxiety, substance abuse as well as dependence problems when they became adults. Meltz (2002) revealed that research showed that when children are physically abused, they are likely to live unhappier marriages; they are likely to earn less money and live unhappier lives when they become adults as compared to those who were not spanked. The research conducted by Murray Straus of the Family Research Laboratory at New Hampshire indicated that adults who were regularly spanked when they were small children agreed that that they is nothing wrong with hitting or beating up a spouse when he or she does something wrong. In addition they are less likely to use problem solving skills or negotiation to resolve conflicts in their marriages. Corporal punishment teaches children that those who are strong and powerful can beat or punish those who are weaker and less powerful. Second, Corporal punishment hampers and retards intelligence quotient (IQ) in children. According to a research conducted by Professor Theodhori Tirana, the children who were spanked regularly exhibited lower levels of intelligence quotient as compared to children who were rarely or never spanked (Tirana 2009, p. 15). In his research, Professor Theodhori Tirana examined intelligent quotient of children between the ages of two to five years. Research revealed that children who were not spank had five points higher than those who were regularly spanked. The research also revealed that children who were regularly spanked or caned exhibited higher levels of post traumatic stress symptoms. This led to lower concentration of children in the classroom. Consequently, a country with higher percentage of parents and guardians who administer corporal punishment has lower national average intelligence quotient as compared to countries that have banned corporal punishment. Therefore, physically abusing the children is the root cause of poor performance in school. Children learn well in friendlier learning environment where there are free to make mistakes and learn from the mistakes without the fear of being punished. With punishment, children tend to loose concentration and fear taking risks. In addition, physically abused children may not be creative and innovative. Third, corporal punishment causes physical injury and mental injury. The children will associate teachers and the entire learning process with pain. Consequently, they will fear teachers and hate going to school. According to Desai (2010, p. 347), corporal punishment was cited as the most significant and direct reason that cause hundreds of children to drop out of school or college each year. At times children cannot understand the reason for punishment. Council of Europe and Parliamentary Assembly (2005, p. 44) pointed out corporal punishment adversely affect the children with physical disabilities. The paddling at the elementary school adversely affected Sarah’s son who was suffering from Asperser’s Syndrome. He dreaded going to school. Corporal punishment relies on fear, terror and submissiveness techniques and diminishes children’s capacity to grow up as autonomous and responsible people. In addition, it erodes trust between a teacher or guardian and child, and increases chances of a child being abused under the goose of disciplining. Children who are beaten are more likely to cheat or lie, bully others, become disobedient and show little or no remorse for their wrong doing (Dorpat 2007). It makes children feel ashamed, lonely, sad and depressed. Corporal punishment is degrading and robs a child the sense of self worth and respect. This causes the feelings of helplessness and can at times lead to high levels of withdrawals or social aggression. The child vulnerability to depression is increased through corporal punishment. At the same time, children may become shy and insecure. Corporal punishment encourages substance abuse amongst adolescents. When older children are beaten, they may resort to physical aggression, increased their attachment to delinquent peer groups, drug abuse, crime and violence. Fourth, corporal punishment is not a long term solution against anti-social behavior in children. Patience, kindness, empathy and cooperation are powerful forms of influencing children to act and behave appropriately. Corporal punishment does not promote understanding, rather an artificial sense of conformity to please the authority temporarily. Research has revealed that corporal punishment encourages instantaneous compliance to parents or teachers instructions, it is identified with higher levels of aggression, delinquency, anti-social behavior as well as lower levels of moral learning and mental health. Teachers and parents play critical roles in helping children develop and nurture their self esteem and image. This is possible through reasoning and talking with children. Conclusion Majority of the teachers prefer corporal punishment to other forms of disciplining because it is quick, convenient and provide instantaneous results. It is better to give a child a temporary sting to make him or her obeys rather than see him or her burned or crippled for life. However, when corporal punishment is applied, it should be applied with intelligent love to be effective. Corporal punishment should not be a last resort for dealing with bad behavior in children. In addition, corporal punishment is not the only way to instill discipline in children. Other include reprimanding, detention, isolation, time outs, withdrawals of privileges, notifying parents or guardian of their wrongdoing, assigning special tasks or expelling him or her. If the police can still retain their weapons after they abuse them and cars be allowed in the highways even though they cause accidents, corporal punishment should not be abolished. Safeguards must be developed to guide its proper applications. The opponents of corporal must realize that some behavior that make other children to rape, knife, mug, beat, kill or harass can only be solved through corporal punishment. All methods of disciplining children should be considered before making a decision on which method to apply depending on the situation. Bibliography Arnall, J 2008, Discipline without distress: 135 tools for raising caring, responsible children without time-out, spanking, punishment, or bribery 2nd edn, Discipline Without Distress, Canada. 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