ORELLANA 1 Iris Orellana Professor Jacobs ENC 1101 April 1, 2014

Do parents have the right to spank their child? Some parents use a type of corporal punishment; there are two types of corporal punishment. Under law it is a physical punishment, such as flogging, inflicted on the body of one convicted of a crime. Then there is the type of physical punishment that includes spanking, inflicted on a child by an adult in authority. This essay will be based on whether or not it is morally right for parents to discipline their infant, toddler, child, or teenager by spanking. When a parent spanks their child they would strike the child's bottom due to their behavior with either an open hand or an object, without actually producing any sort of physical injury. There is a lot of controversy on this topic because there are individuals who argue by saying there are alternative traditions to punish your child that does not include physical punishment. Then there are individuals who argue that by spanking the child will learn in a quicker manner. Parents have been spanking their child for quite some time now but there are many questions that have yet to be answered. A few questions are: Is it right for parents to spank their child? Does spanking cause a child to grow up violent? With much assumption, this topic has become a very fascinating topic. What individuals must understand is that spanking is a mentally harmless form of discipline.

ORELLANA 2 There are individuals claiming that spanking are a form of abuse to the child. In the article Spanking: Which Side of the Fence Are You On? author Sarah Mahoney states from some studies found by doctors stating, Spanking is not only potentially harmful to both parent and child, they say, but it also just doesn't work. While hitting provides a short-term fix, it creates long-term problems. Children who are spanked, these experts argue, are more likely to be aggressive, become withdrawn, or have behavior problems when they go to school. (Mahoney) This statement given from Sarah Mahoney shows a biased view of the topic. There are many children that get disciplined this way and do not become aggressive, withdrawn or have problems at school. As a child my mother would discipline me by spanking and I did not act that way at all. In school I did not act withdrawn or have any problems at school. Her form of punishment just reminded me to not act in an inappropriate way again. But for children to become aggressive, withdrawn or have problems at school they must be severely beaten to the point that theyre terrified of any type of adult figure. Which would explain why they would act withdrawn or have problems at school. This can happen but it is not due to the fact the child is being spanked as a form of discipline. It occurs because of a beating that leaves physical/psychological wounds. This subject continues to be looked at in a negative aspect by individuals but spanking has been used for many years now. Disciplining children in the form of spanking has been used to what we can guess hundreds of years. And Im sure that not every single child that was spanked came out to be aggressive or a criminal. In another article called Will spanking make your child successful a Calvin College psychology professor called Dr. Marjorie Gunnoe, states spanking children under the age of 6 can make them happier and more successful later in life. (Week Staff) This just states that by disciplining your child this way can lead to be more

ORELLANA 3 successful in life. Dr. Marjorie Gunnoe did a very good research by questioning 2,600 people. 650 of these participants were never spanked growing up. When she questioned participants about academic success and their optimism about the future and they found that the ones who have been disciplined with spanking between the ages of 2 and 6 faired best in all the categories. But for the children that were not disciplined, as children were practically polar opposites of the people that were disciplined as children. This study by Dr. Marjorie Gunnoe just proves that disciplined children have a better chance of having a more positive future in academic success. There is much other disciplinary action that can be done instead of spanking. There are many studies to support that statement. One example according to Brendan L.Smith a writer in Washington, D.C, he says, The Parent Management Training program headed by Kazdin at Yale is grounded in research on applied behavioral analysis. The program teaches parents to use positive reinforcement and effusive praise to reward children for good behavior. By doing this as the people from the parent management training program it will be giving you a harder time in the future. The reason to my statement is due to the fact that the child will end up knowing that they will not ever get such a bad punishment. Another option that there is that by putting your child on timeout. By putting your child on timeout they can think about what they did and how they can avoid having that done. There are some studies that prove that timeouts do not work, due to the fact that the child will act unsuitable in the future. Those are just a couple of examples of different types of punishments that could be done. That is not necessarily stating that they could work better than spanking. When it comes down to it spanking will always be a controversial topic. No matter how much time passes by. Some parents will always be trying to get some type of bill to stop spanking. They want to stop spanking because they believe it is a form of abuse. There is a

ORELLANA 4 difference between an open hand to the bottom leaving no physical harm and leaving welts and or bruises on your child. By leaving your child with welts, bruises, and hitting them in the face will leave your child scarred for life and end up having them grow up bad. That is also known as child abuse and is not supported by anyone at all. No one should ever hurt their child to the point that they leave welts, bruises, or give them broken bones. They also believe it will cause the child to grow up more aggressive, withdrawn, or have behavioral problems. But for those parents who believe in spanking their children believe that is a good form of discipline for their child. It helps establish rules and consequences to the child. A parent should not let the child get away with whatever they want due to the fact that they want their child to like them. Children will always love their parents if they give them love, and attention. So there is no need for a parent to feel that their child will not love them anymore due to the fact that they spank them. The child will eventually realize that their parent spanked them not because they dont like or love them but because they wanted them to learn what behavior is acceptable and unacceptable. This essay was written to give you more insight on the topic but at the end of the day the choice is yours on whether you believe spanking is right.

ORELLANA 5 Works Cited Mahoney, Sarah. "Spanking: Which Side of the Fence Are You On?" Parents Magazine. Parents Magazine, 2005. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://www.parents.com/toddlerspreschoolers/discipline/spanking/which-side-of-the-fence-are-you-on/>. Week Staff. "Will Spanking Make Your Child Successful? - The Week." The Week. The Week Magazine, 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. <http://theweek.com/article/index/104745/willspanking-make-your-child-successful>. Smith, Brendan L. "The Case against Spanking." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association, Apr. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/spanking.aspx>. Crandall, Analysisby Julie. "Poll: Most Approve of Spanking Kids." ABC News. ABC News Network, 08 Nov. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90406>. "Controversies of Spanking Children." Controversies of Spanking Children. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <http://www.csun.edu/~hnj22383/spanking.html>.