Corporol Punishment

Corporal punishment is defined as inflicting bodily pain on a child as response to misbehavior, with the common goal of stopping the bad behavior immediately and preventing a repetition of the behavior in the future. In most cases, corporal punishment is not regarded as abuse, unless the child is severely harmed. When a child is very young, they learn how to sense their parent's emotion. They will also begin to adapt a sense for right and wrong, depending on how the parent treats them. Spoiling a child is not necessarily the right answer to avoid punishment. If they do not learn to correct their wrongs, they will not learn the first step of discipline. A study shows that 90% of children fix the negative act that they have performed after they have been disciplined. The classic form of discipline is spanking.

There has been a lot of talk and debate on the subject of corporal punishment. On one side of the debate are the parents who believe it is ok to spank their children; on the other side are those who think that children should never be hit. The main difference between the two is that they both define punishment, in

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this case spanking, differently. Many believe spanking is a form of abuse, while others think it is a form of discipline.

Corporal punishment can in effect be a form of abuse. My belief is that children should only be spanked with your hand. Belts, paddles, or any other type of item should not be legal to use. People who disagree with corporal punishment say that spanking is done out of anger and that the kids never learn a lesson from spanking. These people argue that spanking sends the message to the kids that it is ok for a person to strike a smaller person. There is some truth to this message. When a parent spanks their child out of anger or frustration then it does send the wrong message to the perpetrator. When a parent makes the decision to spank, it should be done out of love. The goal is not to cause pain, but to teach the child a lesson. Spanking should not be the first option of corporal punishment. Let's say a child goes onto the street at night, the dangers should be explained. Almost like a warning to the child. If the child goes onto the street again, then he or she should receive a spanking. This will teach the child to listen to you and he will not go into the street again. A

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spanking should only be a few "strikes" to ones bottom and I believe it

should never be any other part of the body, maybe with the exception of a light tap on the hand. This teaches the child to not touch an item, like a fireplace for example.

Another question that has come up has been at what age should the punishment begin. This really all depends on the