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Tori Fanning
ENG 101
Professor Bolton
17 November 2014
Is Corporal Punishment Necessary?
Every day, we hear about child abuse and how parents went too far with disciplining their
children. On our television, we see cases where parents have killed their children from over beating
them. The question is when is spanking child abuse? Corporal punishment is any punishment that
involves physical actions, such as spanking, slapping, squeezing, and punching a child. Items such as
whips, thin tree branches, belts, and cords etc. are used to discipline a child. In The Great Spanking
Debate, an article from Parents Magazine, written by Jeannette Moninger, Moninger explains peoples
different opinions and the facts on spanking. Corporal punishment being a good or bad method of
discipline for children has been a controversy amongst people for years. According to Mom says dont
spankarticle, spanking, or any physical way of disciplining a child, is outlawed in 18 countries, Sweden
being the 1st in 1979 (Mom says dont spank, par.12). In the United States, it is legal, but the term
child abuse varies in different states. They also say that parents that were spanked as a child are more
likely to spank their own children. According to Moninger, Matthew Davis M.D., an associate professor
of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Health System states,
In the United States, families in the South and West view it more favorably than their
counterparts in the Northeast and Midwest, according to the C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital poll.
and one 2007 study published in Family Relations found that African- American parents are 9
percent more likely to spank their children than white parents are. Discipline methods often
are passed down from generation to generation and rooted in strong cultural and familial
traditions (qtd. in Moninger, par.5).

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If parents are taught how to handle situations with their children, there wouldnt be so many children
dying or disturbed people. Parents.com did a poll with 1,000 of their readers 81 percent said they had
spanked their child at least once. In my family, my siblings and I were spanked for almost everything. My
mom had a bad temper and used her physical side to get her point across. My brothers, sisters, and I
knew that she used it to take some of her frustrations out. She used it to make us fear her, so she could
stay in control. Now that I have a child of my own, I find myself in this great spanking debate all the
time. Even though I was spanked as a child, I do not completely agree that it is always the best way to
get a child to obey you or correct them. There are times when I get told that I let my son get away with
too much, but others that say I am too hard on him. Either way it goes, there is always going to be at
least one person that critizes the way you raise your child. I do believe that a swat on the behind or
hand to quickly correct a child is harmless, especially if they are in harms way. When a child is putting
himself in danger, some parents reaction is a pop on the behind, because they fear their child getting
hurt. Beating a child, especially a young child, is not acceptable. What I have discovered with my son so
far is that it is best to go with my gut feeling most of the time. If we, as parents, can find another way to
discipline our child that is effective, we should try that method instead. Even though some claim that
they were spanked and they turned out alright, corporal punishment , such as spanking, should be the
last method for disciplining a child because it leads to physical and emotional abuse, depression, and the
child is more likely to be abusive to other people.
Most parents that physically discipline their children argue that they were spanked as a child to
teach them responsibility and correct their actions, and they turned out to be respectful, good people.
These parents also say that tough discipline make children respect and obey their parents. In Haseks
article he responds to Rachel Mendlesons article: I fully believe the blame for this lies at the feet of
society, our government and our courts. The government has stripped away all of our parental rights
and bars us from disciplining our children, and by discipline I do not mean abuse (Hasek 9). She claims

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that the government not allowing the parents to discipline their children correctly is the reason why
children are so disrespectful and disobedient. Yes, the government is involved in our parenting because
of the simple fact that we are hurting our children and sending them to hospitals. Parents have been
misusing their title for years. In the past, abuse in the home was kept quiet, even neighbors that knew
failed to react. People think that if a situation doesnt pertain them, they shouldnt get involved.
Because we failed to stand against abuse for our innocent children, the government got involved. In
general, not everyone that is physically disciplined has a disturbed life. However, every child is different
and may react in different ways, so we do not know how a child is feeling and what type of adult they
will become. Even though I agree with them, it is not healthy to constantly put your hands on a person.
The majority of the time when I want to spank my son is when I am frustrated or mad. If the parents had
used another way to discipline they could have been even better human beings. It is our goal as parents
to raise respectful, good, smart, and obedient children, but is laying our hands on someone how we
teach that? Children learn how to interact with their world from their parents; if we want them to treat
others respectfully, we must first show them what respect looks like (Kope 8). A person should lead by
example. Hitting a child only teaches them to be physical to solve their frustrating situations.
First, spanking can lead to child abuse and emotional abuse. Child abuse is physical
maltreatment of a child. It is very common and easy for a parent to get carried away with disciplining a
child. The parent might get mad at the child for something that he or she did, and with trying to
correct them the parent goes too far. They are angry and think that the child is not understanding
what they did wrong or the child does not react to the beating like the parent wants them to, so they
keep on beating them. That is child abuse, parents are sometimes so angry that they do not realize how
much force they are using or how bad they are hurting the child until they are barely breathing or dead.
Adults also tend to take out their frustrations and stress about life on their child. We should not hit our
children when we are mad! Other methods of discipline should be used like making the child sit on their

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bed for five minutes, taking away a toy, stopping them from playing with a friend. Talking to children
and explaining how their actions are wrong, is sometimes all the child needs; a child, especially a young
one, may not even realize the mistakes that were made. In Know About Abuse, Margaret O. Hyde
writes, According to Childhelp USA, a national child abuse prevention program, a child is attacked by
one or both parents every two minutes. Two to five children die and twelve suffer permanent brain
damage from abuse each day (Hyde 10).
Emotional abuse can come from the parent always criticizing and not praising them enough. When a
parent constantly puts their hands on a child it belittles them to the point where they feel like they are
worthless. A child starts to feel insecure and have a low self-esteem. A child does not connect physical
harm with love, so they already automatically think that they are not loved and not important. A parent
using physical discipline on a child while their mad can lead to child abuse and the constant hitting can
make them feel bad and not loved.
If child abuse is not bad enough on its own, corporal punishment can also cause depression.
Most of us experience depression at least one time in our lives. Depression is the feeling of being
hopeless and inadequate. Depression can come over a period of time, and for some, the feeling is so
strong and emotionally hurtful that we question our existence in the world. Imagine a child getting
constantly hit or slapped every time they make a mistake by the main people that are supposed to love
them. A child starts blaming themselves for the reason that their parents are always stressed and mad
because they are always doing wrong. A child starts thinking that nobody wants them and would not
miss them if they left. An innocent child committing suicide because they did not feel wanted is
extremely sad. A parent should make a child feel wanted and important. Children should be treated and
seen like any regular person. If a child receives little parental attention except when being punished,
the concepts of pain and pleasure become further entangled in the childs mind. A child in this situation
will have little self-esteem, believing he deserves nothing better (Hunt 95). It can cause a child to have

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problems interacting with other children. They can always feel sad, and develop slower than other
children. Children that are depressed sometimes hide it by being abusive themselves, getting into
trouble, or start using drugs. It can also lead to teen delinquency. Depression is a common thing that can
come along with parents constantly using corporal punishment instead of other ways of discipline.
Besides a child becoming depressed due to the way they were raised, a child that witnesses and
experiences physical discipline are more likely to continue the pattern and be abusive to other people.
When a child grows up with seeing adults, that are supposed to set an example, being abusive or using
violence to solve their problems or make someone listen, that is what a child is going to use because
that is all they know. A child that is raised in that type of environment grows up believing that it is an
alright behavior; they grow acceptance for what they once thought was wrong. It teaches children that
violence is accepted and should be used. The majority of dangerous criminals were regularly punished
and threatened in childhood. If a child does not see an adult solve their problems in a humane and
creative way, it can be difficult to learn for him. The child may become abusive to their spouse to make
their spouse obey them or try to get them to understand. Hitting only makes the child fear parents, and
later in life resent them. So a child experiencing physical behavior in childhood can result in becoming an
abusive parent or spouse.
In conclusion, corporal punishment such as spanking or any physical punishment, should not
always be used as a method to discipline a child. Child and emotional abuse can happen when a parent
is trying to correct a child and go too far while they are mad. A parent only using physical actions to
teach a child can hurt them in the long-term by making them feel depressed and worthless. A child
should be taught other alternatives for handling their frustrations. If we as parents can find another way
to discipline our child that is effective, try that method instead. I am not completely against corporal
punishment, but if something else works better, why not give it a try?

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Work Cited
Hasek, John. Spanking worked. Macleans 25 Aug. 2008: 9. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 15
Nov. 2014.
Hunt, Jan. Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart. Gabriola Island, BC, CAN: New Society Publishers,
2001. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 17 November 2014.
Hyde, Margaret O. Know About Abuse. New York: Walker & Co, 1992. Print.
Kope, Sara. Getting spanked. Macleans 30 July 2012: 8. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 15 Nov.
2014.
Mom says dont spank. Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication 17 Dec. 2007: 7+. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
Moninger, Jeannette. The Great Spanking Debate. Parents. Parents Magazine. Jan. 2012. Web. 15
Nov. 2014