Ban on Corporal Punishment - Case Study Example

Running Head: Case Study Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code and Name: University: Date Submitted: Introduction Accumulated research lean on the theory that corporal punishment is one of the most ineffective discipline strategies for children of all ages and, besides, it is dangerous. Corporal punishment often produces anger, low self-esteem and resentment, in its victims (Joan, 1996). It teaches revenge and violence as solutions to prevailing problems, and propagates itself, as children imitate what they ideally see adults doing. Many researches substantiate negative consequences following parents using corporal punishment on their children. Parents need to abscond from corporal punishment and find other better approaches to punish their children. The scenario of the story Jack’s mother (my aunt) as a parent has been disciplining his son severally in a strict way and using crude means including hitting him hard with objects, denying him food for a day, locking him out in the weird hours of the night and abusing him regularly among many other forms of punishment evidently resembling corporal punishment. Jack’s teacher learned this after she realized that jack was behaving weirdly. She sought to know what the problem was. My aunt told the teacher that parents feel miserable when they fail in punishing their children appropriately and in modeling their behavior while still young. She, however, acknowledges that corporal punishment has not seen his son improve behavior because it has grown to be worse, with the son reaching to a point of engaging her in a battle of abuses. Her son also never cares anymore what happens when he does wrong and, this behavior is worrying my aunt for the future of her child (Day, 1998). Visiting the school was the only option for Jack’s mother to liaise with the teachers on the appropriate way forward. Analyze and justification It is evident that many parents have not learnt how to punish their children. Mostly, parents find themselves angered by their children’s behavior and react emotionally to punish them ruthlessly (Bennett, 2006). It is apparent that many of these parents think that punishing the child the hard way is the best approach in giving the child a lesson and preventing him or her from engaging in such bad behaviors in future (Joan, 1996). Rarely do these parents know that corporal punishment is a danger to their children; it could develop negative consequences on the child. The parents fear that, without corporal punishment or a strict, their child could develop weird and devastating behaviors (Bennett, 2006). This concern is, expressed better, perhaps as a multi layered parent anxiety for their children behavior. Did the child act badly knowingly? What happens is I do not punish him or her? Is the punishment I give enough to change the child’s behavior? Is it appropriate to use corporal or strict punishment to the child? These are some of the many questions, which parents worry about while they discipline their children when they act wrongly or go against the norm. A consistent pattern of abuse exists in parents approach to punishment that normally starts as corporal punishment, and gets out of control later meaning that the parents do not have an idea as to when they start engaging corporal punishment until it reaches a severe stage (Bennett, 2006). Conversely, adults who were punished severely as children have a higher likelihood of being violent or depressed, therefore, likely to use corporal punishment on their children. The more a child is disciplined through hitting, the more likely that it is the same child, when grows to be an adult, to use hitting on his or her children, friends or spouse. Children whose parents ideally use corporal punishment in controlling antisocial behavior reveal more antisocial behavior themselves particularly over a long period, regardless of socioeconomic and race status, and regardless of the fact whether the mother provides emotional support and cognitive stimulation (Bennett, 2006). Therefore, hitting regularly without a genuine reason could have detrimental effects on the child in his or her later life as an adult. Parents’ punishments practiced in a corporal manner on their children increases the likelihood of children assaulting the same parent in retaliation, particularly as they grow older. My aunt has witnessed this for quite some time now with the son starting to argue with her over matters at hand behavior, which was not there two years ago (Day, 1998). Corporal punishment also sends a message to the individual child that violence is a feasible option in finding solutions to problems (Straus & Donnelly, 1994). Parents normally react harshly when the child does wrong and thinks that it is okay after they abuse and hit the child roughly and stop him or her from doing such an act (Bennett, 2006). Normally, this type of punishment is temporal and does not have any influences in changing the child’s behavior. The child will stop doing what he or she was doing instantaneously but will not remember or learn anything from the punishment. Ideally, there is a likelihood of the same child repeating what he or she did in the future. Corporal punishment as used by many parents on their children is degrading; it relatively contributes to humiliation and helplessness feelings. It robs a child of some sense of self-worth and self-respect, meaning that the child does not grow normally (Day, 1998). The parent’s role is to oversee a child in his or her growth and development normally and morally upright, which corporal punishment does not serve. Normally this kind of punishment to the child will lead to aggression or withdrawal of the child (Straus & Donnelly, 1994). Now, my nephew finds it difficult to tell his mother his problems fearing that she will take it negatively and abuse him. Instead, he has to use me to go tell he mother (my aunt) what is bothering him on any issue. Corporal punishment, therefore, contributes to distancing of the child from his or her parents, of which this should never be the case. Corporal punishment generally erodes trust between a child and a parent and increases the risk of child abuse. It could be a discipline measure of the parent to the child, but it simply does not decrease the delinquent or aggressive behaviors of the child (Straus & Donnelly, 1994). Children spanked regularly by the parents are more likely to cheat or lie over time, bully others, be disobedient at school, and show less remorse after wrongdoing. My aunt cannot help regret that her son has grown to be a liar and lies even to the most explicit and minor issues because he has developed behavior out of the corporal punishment. Corporal punishment affects cognitive development of the children adversely. Children spanked regularly perform poorly on school tasks when compared to other children who are, disciplined properly (Day, 1998). From a high performer, my nephew has grown to be a do not care in his education. Rarely does he finish his homework even after his mother beats him up to do it and he often gets late to school. His grades have gone low to a point that the mother is concerned and has visited the schools to understand why. Generally, parental corporal punishment associates with higher levels of immediate aggression and compliance, lower levels of mental health and moral internalization, antisocial and delinquency behavior, poor quality of child- parent relationship, and a higher probability of becoming a physical abuse victim. Jack’s teacher realizes how crude it is in using corporal punishment as a means of disciplining children. Her advice to the mother is that, it is indispensable for the parent to set firm, age-appropriate, consistent, and acceptable limits. For instance, although a 5-year-old may be able to defy the urge to touch things, it is unreasonable to expect a 2-year-old will have the ability to handle these limits. Therefore, she tell s jack’s mother to think of jack as a child and at her age, she is very mischievous. The teacher also teaches Jack’s mother some mediation skills and conflict resolution. Parents need to know more about speaking clearly, listening actively, being trustworthy, showing trust, accepting differences, negotiating, setting group goals, and mediating conflicts (Straus & Donnelly, 1994). The teacher also looked deep into the issue and advices Jack’s mother to talk and reason with her children in age-appropriate approaches. Verbal parent-child relations enhance the cognitive ability of the child. She also understands that Jack’s mother is aggressive and overreacts over many issues therefore she advices her to model patience, cooperation, kindness, and empathy. Parents should be at least aware of the powerful influence actions from them have on a child's behavior. The parents also ought to provide daily opportunities particularly for their children to see through rational problem solving, as well as to study alternatives. Encouraging and praising children are also a role that parents should practice helping children in behavior development. Conversely, a nonverbal response forms instance a smile or a nod, not only provides significant incentives for accomplishment of the child, but also builds confidence in primary grade children (Straus & Donnelly, 1994). The teacher also advices Jack’s mother to allow her children to participate regularly in setting rules as well as identifying penalty for breaking them is also appropriate for them to own them and be cautious. This empowers the respective child to learn how he or she manages own behavior (Straus & Donnelly, 1994). The teacher also takes the advice further by telling of a scenario that happened within the schools similar to the condition facing Jack’s mother. She tell of a mother who never corporate with the teachers and never followed the advice continuing to use corporal punishment and abusing her child, telling her of how later, the school intervened and took the child to a children’s home. This was appropriate to gunner cooperation from Jack’s mother and in changing her child’s behavior positively. Conclusion Corporal punishment is ideally not a great strategy for parents wishing to change a child’s behavior. Generally, to change the behavior of the child, cooperation is required between the three parties and each plays an important role. With a good cooperation, it is apparent to have good relations between the three and contribute positively to the child’s development and success in the academic grounds. References Bennett, R. (2006, September 20) "Majority of parents admit to smacking children", The Times, London, 20 September 2006. Day, R. (1998). Predicting Spanking of Younger and Older Children by their Mothers and Fathers. Journal of Marriage and the Family 60 (February 1998): 79-94. Joan, E. (1996). The Swedish Ban on Corporal Punishment: Its History and Effects". Family Violence against Children: A Challenge for Society. Prevention and Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence, p. 19–25. Straus, M.A. & Donnelly, D.A. (1994). Beating the Devil Out of Them: Corporal Punishment in American Families. New York: Lexington Books Read More