Spank Or Not To Spank

11 Pages 2818 Words

al child rearing styles and the social competence in the children, has shown that under most circumstances, spanking a child younger than 18 months or past puberty is counterproductive. An infant lacks sufficient capacity to regulate his/her own behavior or to process the caregiver’s rationale for spanking. An adolescent, on the other hand, may reject the caregiver’s use of physical punishment, which the adolescent views as illegitimate and invasive (Baumrind 857). Consistency in the discipline is another critical step in the use of spanking because the child will become confused with the rules and why they are being enforced if an inconsistency is formed in the discipline. The use of physical punishment also should be used with control and reasoning. Reasoning with the child, whether it is done before or after the punishment, of why they are being punished along with a spanking will help imprint the consequence of their particular offence (Rossllini 52).
A child with no concept of consequences at a young age is at high risk of never gaining the ability to decide between right and wrong. With the use of spanking a child will benefit in their up bringing by firmly learning what happens after a wrongful action has occurred. When a child acts out in a delinquent manner there must be some repercussion that will help induce a trigger into the child that will inhibit a reoccurrence of that situation. A professor of law and children at the University of California, Mary Ann Mason, states the importance of addressing an unwanted action, “when a kid races across the street in front of a car a slap literally imprints the need for safety. No one would consider that child abuse”(Spencer 182). Without a firm imprint on the brain of an end result that is produced by an action, the raising of a person who is well mannered and is a productive citizen of society has been failed. All parents hope the best for their kids and with an ...