Corporal Punishment for Children vs. Other Methods - Research Paper Example

Corporal Punishment for Children vs. Other Methods Should corporal punishment be allowed for children in schools and at home? If not, then what are the alternative methods of punishment? According to Dupper and Dingus (2008), and based on the National Coalition to Abolish Corporal Punishment in Schools, or the NCACPS, “corporal punishment” is “physical pain inflicted on the body of a child as a penalty for disapproved behavior.” However, in a practical sense, corporal punishment is synonymous to any violent way of punching, spanking, hitting, paddling and various other physical ways of carrying out a painful punishment on a child who the parents may regard as obedient. Nevertheless, despite the claims to its benefits and usefulness, and based on the literature reviewed, corporal punishment does not have any long-term benefits and is therefore considered unnecessary for children’s discipline. Moreover, there may be many other ways of disciplining children that are more effective than corporal punishment. The questions stated above are important because in many parts of the world like Korea and Japan, corporal punishment is still the norm that defines discipline among children both at school and at home, when in fact the teachers and parents in these places may just not realize its negative effects. Nevertheless, without knowing the exact negative effects of corporal punishment, one may not be fully convinced that this ancient method of discipline is negative. Therefore, there is a need to know how negative it is exactly. Moreover, it is not enough to eradicate corporal punishment in the homes and schools. We should also find alternative means of punishment for both home and school settings. Personally, the topic is relevant because I have experienced some form of corporal punishment from my parents and teachers when I was young. Moreover, I thought such punishment was excessive as much as it was unreasonable. Review of Related Literature Corporal punishment is negative. Firstly, the rumored benefits of corporal punishment are not available in concrete terms. According to the findings of the Society for Adolescent Medicine as reported by Dupper and Dingus (2008), there is no data which shows that corporal punishment can enhance social skills or self-control skills in the long run. Moreover, “the same students are hit over and over again” (Dupper & Dingus, 2008). Nevertheless, this could be a weak argument because there may be existing developmental studies that have been carefully conducted and may have yielded positive results. However, the claim that “the same students are hit over and over again” would actually defeat any positive results because doing the punishment done multiple times means that it is not effective. Secondly, corporal punishment is known to be the cause of a number of psychological problems in the child. A study by Hyman in 1995 reports that corporal punishment in schools has “damaging physical and psychological outcomes that can affect some children for the remainder of their lives” (as cited in Dupper & Dingus, 2008). Such effects include conduct disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD (Dupper & Dingus, 2008). Thirdly, according to Gershoff and Bitensky (2007), corporal punishment does not seem to decrease any instance of defiant and aggressive behavior in the child in the long run. This means that a number of children often revert back to their former negative selves perhaps some time after they lose the fear of punishment. Moreover, according to McLoyd and Smith (2002), “Spanking was associated with an increase in behavior problems over time” and this is particularly true among African American children. Furthermore, it is also contended that “physical punishment typically evokes anger and emotional distress in the child, which, over time, may diminish positive feelings” (McLoyd & Smith, 2002). These claims therefore simply show that corporal punishment elicits anger in the child, and this anger will later on prove to become the reason for violent behavior. Moreover, since these pieces of evidence are based on actual studies, then they must be credible. There are many other problems associated with corporal punishment. One of these is the claim that the practice is often associated with a higher incidence of child abuse, school shootings, acts of violence, homicide and aggression in the same state where it is legal (Dupper & Dingus, 2008). Another is the idea that corporal punishment somehow “legitimizes the use of violent means to solve behavior problems” (Dupper & Dingus, 2008). Corporal punishment also encourages the idea that coercion is perfectly all right (Ulman & Straus, 2000). The practice also results in decreased “ability, academic achievement, and social competence” among children (Dupper & Dingus, 2008). Lastly, corporal punishment results in “various neurological stress reactions” from “sufficiently painful” situations, each of which can destroy him psychologically (Holden, 2002). It could also make the child resort to antisocial and other problem behavior (Mulvaney & Mebert, 2007). Aside from journal studies, parenting websites have the same opinion. In parenting.com, for example, Thompson (2011) believes that although corporal punishment can teach a child to stop behaving badly out of fear, it will definitely not be able to teach them to be better, stronger, kinder or more honorable people. This is actually the reaction of the author towards one typical case of corporal punishment in Texas where a young boy was hit by his teacher with a wooden paddle, and which brought him to hospital. Another parenting site, the Center for the Improvement of Child Caring, or CICC, believes, through their motto, that “Children Should Never, Ever Be Spanked No Matter What the Circumstances” (Corporal Punishment and Verbal Aggression, 2013). The site also justified that children who have been physically punished tend to develop into people who are aggressive, morally corrupt, delinquent and antisocial, mentally ill and one with a tendency towards abusing his own wife and child in the future. Moreover, according to the parenting section of the Better Health Channel website based in Australia, in the article “Parenting – Discipline” (2013), corporal punishment can lead to the child learning violence by example and damaging his or her relationship with his parent in the long run. Moreover, there is destruction of the child’s sense of justice. The solution to the harshness of corporal punishment is therefore a better method of punishment. According to the Pediatrics Department of the Emory School of Medicine, one should reward a child for good behavior rather than punish him for bad behavior. Moreover, reward has the advantage of making a child feel good about himself and his accomplishments. Another alternative to corporal punishment is removing a child from a situation where he is rewarded for being bad like a group of friends who tolerate his mischievous acts. Moreover, punishments should be reasonable and appropriate to the situation like the child who did not fix his toys cannot play with them for some time (Carter, 2013). Other alternatives include “time-out” or bringing a child to a room where he is expected to think about what he has done wrong. Another way could be to explain consequences and immediately ordering them to clean up any mess they have made. Still, one very good way to instill discipline is to clearly explain to the children the preferred behavior and make them develop such routines (Parenting – Discipline, 2013). Conclusion At this point, it is now time to answer the previously stated questions: Should corporal punishment be allowed for children in schools and at home? If not, then what are the alternative methods of punishment? Corporal punishment is indeed not to be allowed as the method of disciplining children at home and at school. There are a number of reasons for this. First, there is no much documented evidence on its advantages. Second, corporal punishment will probably cause several psychological problems in the child later in life. Third, there is no beneficial effect on the child’s behavior and it even makes him or her tend to be more aggressive and violent. Aside from these, corporal punishment is also associated with homicide cases. It also teaches the child that violence is a proper thing and that coercion is a good option. Corporal punishment also does not improve a child’s performance at school and it even only causes numerous neurological stress reactions that could even bring about antisocial and similar behaviors. Parenting websites voice out exactly the same concern about corporal punishment. Specifically, the websites focused on a few crucial points like the lack of long-term benefits, the evil long-term effects, and the damage to the child’s relationship with the parent and his or her sense of justice. Some sites also discussed alternatives to corporal punishment such as a reward system, removing the child from bad influence, reasonable punishments, “time-out,” explaining the consequences of actions, and helping the child to develop good routines. The research studies on the negative effects of corporal punishment may have their own biases but the fact that so many independent studies would yield the same results means that indeed there is something very negative about corporal punishment. Moreover, the ideas on the alternative methods to corporal punishment are more important. However, perhaps there is a need for more scientific research on these as well. Future research perhaps should focus on or delve into how exactly a child will become in the long run if a particular method of punishment is used on him or her. It will be a never-ending search for the best method of discipline that will indeed make children the best that they can be. References Corporal Punishment and Verbal Aggression. (2013). Retrieved from the Center for the Improvement of Child Caring: http://www.ciccparenting.org/newsletters/corporalpunishment.htm Dupper, D. R. & Dingus, A. E. M. (2008). Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: A Continuing Challenge for School Social Workers. Children & Schools, 30(4), 243-250. Gershoff, E. T. & Bitensky, S. H. (2007). The Case against Corporal Punishment of Children. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 13(4), 231-272. Holden, G. W. (2002). Perspectives on the Effects of Corporal Punishment: Comment on Gershoff (2002).” Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 590-595. McLoyd, V. C. & Smith, J. (2002). Physical Discipline and Behavior Problems in African American, European American, and Hispanic Children: Emotional Support as a Moderator.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 40-53. Mulvaney, M. K. & Mebert, C. J. (2007). Pastoral Corporal Punishment Predicts Behavior Problem in Early Childhood. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(3), 387-397. Parenting-Discipline. (2013). Retrieved from Better Health Channel: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Parenting_discipline Thompson, K. Y. (2011). Corporal Punishment in the twenty-First Century. Retrieved from Parenting.com: http://www.parenting.com/blogs/mom-congress/kathryn-young-thompson/corporal-punishment-twenty-first-century Ulman, A. & Straus, M. A. (2000). Violence by children against mothers in relation to violence between parents and corporal punishment by parents. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 34, 41-60. Read More