Controversial Parenting: To Spank or Not to Spank?
At some point in the past 20 years the act of spanking a child became a controversial subject. As researchers and social workers spent more time studying the effects of corporal punishment and educating parents on new ways to punish their kids, lawmakers were busying themselves with a whole new set of "parenting guidelines". Laws have been established that tell a parent when and how hard they can legally spank their children, what they can and cannot spank them with, and the consequences involved with breaking these "laws". A fine line has been drawn between discipline and abuse and it seems parents are afraid of crossing that line.
In order to see if all the anti spanking laws have helped we need to review some statistics: According to the Department of Health and Human Services, it was estimated that between 1986 and 1993 child abuse and/or neglect in the US nearly doubled. The numbers are staggering, with about 1.4 million cases of abuse/neglect in 1986 compared to 2.8 million in 1993. Moving forward to 2002, there were 2.6 million reports concerning the welfare of 4.5 million children.
As you can see by the numbers, the laws that have been placed have not done much in the way of saving children from abuse. Who are these laws really affecting? It is usually the honest, law abiding citizens who are most affected by new laws. To those who are out breaking laws and not concerned with the outcome of their actions, these laws have little meaning. Parents who are trying to teach their kids to obey, to not break laws, and always be a model citizen are the ones affected. It can be said that these parents would not be "abusing" their children even without the laws in place.
There are other statistical factors involved that lead us to believe the laws are actually holding children back from achieving a solid foundation for their future. Without solid parenting practices we have somewhat encouraged crime rates among children to soar. 20 years ago there was not a problem with guns being taken to school, or classmates going on a rampage killing teachers and classmates. The occurrence of gang related violence among school aged kids was a fraction of what we have today. Taking into consideration these factors, the laws have been somewhat ineffective.
In the present day when a parent decides on a punishment they must keep in mind that the consequence of their decision may be imprisonment and the loss of parental rights. Whether it is good, bad, or indifferent, it is our American legal system.
Published by Stormy Rayne
I write in order to say all the things in life that I can't say out loud. At times it is much easier to explain emotions in written form than verbal. Writing has been my release since I was about 11 and con... View profile
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8 Comments
Post a CommentThere are some children that need spanking, But all too often a parent grabs up a child and spanks, before thinking, Is this a "capital offence"? , just because they are stressed or don't feel good, having a bad day, I have seen this happen more than not. I don't spank the child living with me, he is a good boy and does not do any thing to warrant a spanking, But if he did, I would be the first to spank him, If he needed it.
This is a good article. I don't spank my child, and she is well-behaved and well-adjusted. I have lots of patience, only one child, and many parenting skills to choose from. The problem with the anti-spanking movement is that many parents are stripped of the only discipline tool they have and not given anything to replace it with.
Very ineresting article.
Thanks for all the great comments, I agree that the world needs more discipline and think that without it children are only going to behave worse. I'm not sure what the right form is, but I know that as a child I was terrified of my parents (in good ways mostly) and would have never dreamed of making a public, or private scene. I wanted nothing more than their respect and pride, so I acted accordingly. I wonder if this was because knew all about the belt at the end of any lie or misbehavior?
I'm not pro spanking, however, I DO think that some sort of discipline is necessary. There are just too many children who do things that are absolutely awful. Recently, I wactched a two year old punch his mother in the face over and over again - - hard. All she did was say, "stop, you are hurting me." In response he punched even harder. Finally, another gentleman spoke up and said "if you don't do something to stop that child I'm calling for help. You are not sending him a good message by allowing him to beat you that way." I wanted to applaud him for his courage. The mother got up and left without saying a word. I would have been mortified to say the least. The other day a small child spit at someone in Wal-Mart. The mother witnessed it but didn't say a word to the child or to the poor woman that he spat on. It was disgusting. And we wonder why kids today are so bad???
Great read and very important issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yes, it is a big question.......................we have to have some sort of system in place to discipline the children......................I guess it is up to the parents to choose for themselves what they would like to implement..............................
Well I find this quite a controversial issue for me. I think there has been a real downfall to society and I think that a lot of it has to do with the way families raise their children. In my day we never would have tagged someones building or broken into their car but today the children do it and think nothing of it as there is no punishment for their actions. Anyway great article. thanks