English Comp 1 Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Spankings have been used since Biblical times as a form of discipline, and it was not until 1991, when research conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff showed that spankings caused increased child abuse, violence among peers, and anti-socialism that people began to think poorly of spankings. It also has been proven in other countries that when spanking stops, the child abuse rates do not change for the better. The research conducted by Dr. Gershoff must be looked at closely if a true verdict is to be reached. One of the more popular beliefs that arose after Dr. Gershoff’s research was that spanking would cause mental harm. The problem with this idea is, first, there was nothing exhibited in the research to show mental decline; second, if this is true, then everyone over the age of thirty could be classified as a mental case. However, it cannot be denied that mental problems will, and typically do come into play when a child is “beaten”. There is an immense difference between “spanking” and “beating”. A beating is any action by a parent that is not a controlled smack on the butt. There is an age when spankings can and should stop. The age to stop spankings varies from child to child, on an individual basis. In most situations, spankings should begin to stop when a child begins to understand what he or she did and is old enough to have privileges that can be taken away. It is at that time that other methods can be used to stifle those situations.
Child abuse is on the rise. Being unable to identify the real cause, people have began to put the blame on spanking. Such people claim that parents begin to feel that they have to punish their child worse each time to better get the message across, which leads them to hit harder and in a variety of places. Once again this is not spanking, this crosses the line and is considered a beating. Furthermore, if spanking was at the root of child abuse, then, because spanking is on the...