Is spanking a child the right punishment? Why or why not?

Question

its for a child devlopment debate and i need to see how i can counter act the other side. We are against it, and i have to see how i can word things to win the debate

Answer 1

i think it depends on the child. some kids time outs work wonders where as others you put them in time out its just a joke!
just like spankings. they arent for all kids!
I know it doesnt help with your paper. but there is no right way to punish a kid. it all depends on the kid

Answer 2

spanking isnt illegal, child abuse is, and spanking only became such a huge deal when brushing up on someones arm became sexual harrasment. who are you to say that i would be a better person today if i wasnt spanked as a child. You can not proove that. If anything i did less wrong things as a child because i didnt want a spank. Talking isnt always the answer, and most of the time, the child is talked to first and when NO isnt working, the spank sure will get your point accross. Spanking a child does not create a druggy, a murderer, a child molester, a thief. There is more to raising a child , to teach them good morals, right from wrong. And just becuase you end up with a kid that grows up to be a prison junky, its does not mean it was because they were spanked, its because they had no other direction, no other good parenting skills, bad peers, neglected growing up etc etc. catch the drift here.

Answer 3

Spanking doesn't accomplish anything. It is a physical act against another human being. Whether it be a child or a pet, most times, the punished act is not understandably correlated to the punishment. If and when this occurs, the punisher usually won't follow through with the punishment in a timely matter, which in turn voids the meaning and intent of the entire thing. Young children and pets do not have the capability to verbally express feedback and any response will be negative. When this is the case, there should not be any spanking involved in a punishment because you cannot get true feedback on the result of the punishment. When children are older and able to express feedback verbally, there are plenty of better ways to come to an understanding as far as punishment is concerned. That is the reason people are able to converse. Physical punishment is not expressing anything related to the situation and if spanking is used for every type of malinterpretation, misunderstanding, and correctional punishment, the child being punished will not be able to separate different scenarios of punishment and just relate this physical act to all negative things and not have an intelligent response towards bettering their behavior, and they will not regard rules with a sense of knowing, which is essential for learning and correcting bad behavior.

Answer 4

personally i think spanking is a personal decsionand depends on the act that needs to be desciplined also the age of the child once they hit 6 years old they in my opinion are old enough to just sit down and talk to forthe most part . But for your debate some reasons to be against it could be the aggressiveness to a spanking compared to time out or talking also the psychological problems it may cause later in life . I have left a site you should read that would help best wishes

Answer 5

Under certain circumstances a swat on the butt is an effective correctional tool, unfortunately it is often overused.
If your swats out number your hugs; you are not doing your job correctly.
Remember.....When you kick someones butt, they jump up and down ; When you pat them on the back,they move forward.
Positive re-enforcement is more effective than negative re-enforcement...... people are in a constant active quest for pleasure...... they avoid pain only when they think about it.
.....some people will even seek pain rather than be ignored.

Another thought......

People who use the "easy" tool of fear and pain to discipline
can unintentionally create monsters. The person often feels guilty and attempts to soften the pain with affection. This can cause confusion in the child. Causes the child to confuse pain with love. They can develop a sad-masitistic personality. They will be unable to give or receive love without pain.
At the other extreme a totally dispassionate disciplinarian can generate a coldness and unfeeling response from the child.

To totally avoid violence does not solve the problem either.
It often makes the child incapable of handling violence or forgiving.

Answer 6

Actually, spanking is not a punishment - it's a reinforcement. And since it's administered so as to decrease a behavior, that makes it negative....hence, spankings are negative reinforcement.

Speeding tickets for driving too fast are actually a punishment intended to result in decrease of the behavior...so that is an example of negative punishmnet..The offender is deprived of
-time
attend to the ticket go to court, etc
-resources
fine is paid, perhaps driving priveleges taken away

So try thinking about these two examples, and how one may work better than the other and why....

Lots a luck!!
-M

Answer 7

I am against spanking because of the chance that the parent can lose control or spank too hard. It also not a good example to set your kids. As a parent you're supposed to protect them from harm and then here you are hitting them?

It doesnt let them know what they did wrong and how they can do things correctly. It's poor parenting when used all the time. It says you're too lazy to take the time to do the right thing. Parenting takes time. Kids are more likely to listen if you tell them why you are doing what you're doing.

However: If I were for spanking I'd say: Spanking can be an immediate deterrent to dangerous behavior (i.e. touching a hot stove, running in the street etc.) because it can distract the kid and harm them in a relatively safe way compared to the actual consequence to their actions. So hopefully they will associate the pain with that action and not the parent. I dont see any other positives to spanking.

Answer 8

If you read the answers, parents say it okay, when under the right circumstances. Non parents and children posting, are dead against it.
It is not illegal. It is not illegal other places. It is not comparable to hitting a spouse or coworker, (that one needs help, lol).
Spanking is a normal part of parenting. It is not abusive. Abuse is hitting, slapping, burning ... If u cannot tell the difference in abuse and spanking, u don't need children or need help.
My daughter, 24 now and w/ children, laughs at the time she told her mother NO, about 10 yrs of age. I came up and gave her a good spanking to which she called 911. When they called back, I ask that a deputy come out at his leisure. when he got there, my daughter had to explain what she did and then got another spanking in front of him, for being so selfcentered and disrespectful of the emergency system and the officer.
She will tell u quickly that it was a great lesson in some realities. She now is a nurse specializing in abused infant care and says it stems from that one instance when she learned the difference between dicipline for a child who needed it and abuse.
Sorry u have the losing side of the argument.

Answer 9

Here is my answer to a similar question before:

The first thing you have to decide is the definition of spanking... that will help you decide yes or no. Does spanking involve just your hand, while the baby is wearing his clothes, or does it include a belt, or whipping the child?
I'm not advocating either or neither, I'm just saying, make sure you define spanking first.

My husband and I have agreed that spanking will not be a common form of punishment, in fact we're 70% against it, but we said that we can do it if the situation is extreme and it involves their safety.
For example, if my child runs out into the road, I'm going to spank him, because I want the crap scared out of him... I can't chance him doing it again, he could be killed. I think that other forms of punishment are more of a learning tool than spanking, but I can't chance sitting down and talking with my son, or giving him time out for running out in the road...
just my opinion

Answer 10

Spanking can be an effective tool for discipline. But it should be limited to the posterior area and in the force applied. One modest swat can express extreme displeasure of the parent over some action by the child. When such punishment is applied one must remember the strength and size of the administrator compared to the chil. Another one is a little rap ont he palm with a flat ruler.

The negative aspects are in the possibility of excessive force, application of instruments to the general body and intense expressions of anger to excess wher ethe child is bruids and shows any signs of rough treatment.

Spare the rod and spoil the child - is a homily that has survived for some time and, judging by the number of delinquents, there has been a lot of rod sparing.

The bad poin - abuse, over reacting, misplaced application of punishment any one or all can lead to abuse and injury or death in some extreme cases.

Childrenwill test limits and without some form of punishment will quickly learn that they can get away with anything. Then you have a problem onthe other end of the scale. Spanking, then, has limits in location and force used in application. Like all things spanking when used with extreme discretion can be effective without physical harm.

Answer 11

Sometimes a good spanking on the buttocks work but I found with my boys it was not effective. They just got worse. I have real good finger nails and I discovered that I could just hold their little arms and my finger nail kinda got there attention and a lot less intrusive. they straightened right up.
To this day they will tell people about how I had the sharpest fingernails. It got their attention better than spanking did and they would stand still and listen rather than fight back and scream. I did not dig into there skin too hard. Timeout never worked, they would walk away. Taking things away was sometimes useful or not letting them go play outside or ride their bicycle. Giving them chores that they had to do before they got privileges back worked. Must be age appropriate. Like putting all their toys up.
Good Luck Hope I helped