Essays

Is Spanking Children Acceptable?

At some point in their lives, every parent has to face a question: is it okay to spank their child? Many parents, and people who aren't parents, debate about wether or not it's okay to spank their children. Some people call it abuse, and some call it a necessary discipline. There are many different reasons to feel either way on the subject, but sometimes it is the most effective way to deal with young children.

Some children can be real brats, and we all know it! They throw fits when they don't get their way, they are rude to adults, and they don't obey when given clear and concise instructions from their parents. Some children do need to be spanked. If a child isn't spanked when they do something wrong, they won't learn valuable lessons like respecting their elders, and from this we see things like teenagers talking back to their teachers in high school and being rude to them. "Once when I was yelling and acting like a complete jerk to my mom, she hit me and I distinctly remember thinking, 'Okay, I had that coming.'" (O'Callaghan). When talking about how parents spanked their children more in the past than then they do now, Bob and Elaine Lehman said that "...most children then were better behaved and respectful than most children are today".

It is also important for a parent to be able to spank their child to keep them from harm. If a child goes near a stove and is told not to touch the fire, that might be of little help, for children are curious beings and tend not to listen to orders when they have an idea in their heads. A child might bring their hand close and yet still wonder what it would be like to put their fingers in the flame, even after their parent has yelled at them for doing it the first time, thus resulting in the best option being to spank the child. This would teach the child that if they go near a flame they could get hurt, but teaching it to them with less pain than if they had gotten burned. Another example is if a child decides to run out in the street without paying attention for cars, perhaps to cross the road or to get a ball, and they might be careless and put themselves in danger. If such happens, then spanking their child could be the correct course of action. It is better to spank a child and give them mild pain, rather than allowing them to cause themselves a large amount of pain.

A parent disciplining their child helps to teach the children about consequences. Children will go around doing whatever they see fit without a single thought of the repercussions that could arise from their actions. If a parent deals with their child in an appropriate manner, which I would consider to be spanking and an stern talking to about what they did wrong and why they shouldn't do it again, then the child will learn that whatever they did was unacceptable and ideally not do it again.

People will argue that spanking children is wrong; they call it child abuse. I disagree. I think that spanking children does not include actually harming them. There has to be a limit to discipline, and that limit always comes before something that lasts; and, in this way, it is ensured that parents don't reach abuse. Other people will say that parents shouldn't spank their children because it can create fear. I say good, let there be some fear to keep the adolescents in line. If they don't understand the difference between right and wrong, then they're going to be troublemakers in the future.

Spanking children is a part of parenthood, and is usually a key component to raising the children to be more considerate, and not to be spoiled brats. As long as the child is not being abused, then it's probably none of our business. I think that to an extent, and in moderation, spanking children is absolutely acceptable, and completely normal in parenting.

Works Cited

O'Callaghan, Kitty. "Is It Okay To Spank?" Parenting. Meredith Corporation, 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Lehman Bob, and Elaine Lehman. Raise Civilized Kids. Tate, 2010. Print. 25.

- 22 April, 2016