Essay On Child Spanking

Words: 774
Pages: 4

Hitting children as punishment for wrongdoings has always been the norm for older generations; however, for today’s generation, it is increasingly controversial. In media and public, many people do not flinch when a child is hit for throwing a tantrum or crying. People tend to “mind their business”, especially in social situations, when parents are attempting to teach their child a lesson by not screaming in public. Even after being “spanked”, how often does the child stop throwing a tantrum? Parents and educators should absolutely research more efficient and placid ways of teaching children. In researchers Lawrence M. Berger, Kathryn Maguire-Jack, and Andrea N. Gromoske’s article located in the November/December 2012 edition of Child Development, “Spanking and Child Development …show more content…
Lee, Elizabeth T. Gershoff, and Inna Altschul hypothesized that perhaps maternal warmth can balance the negative effects of spanking a child; they state, “In particular, because parental warmth engenders trust and reciprocity toward parents, warmth has been hypothesized to act as a buffer against potential negative effects of spanking on children.” (p. 2018). This idea is common amongst parents who approve of spanking as an effective punishment for children. After continuous research and studies however, the authors conclude that maternal warmth did not neutralize the negative effects of spanking, “Spanking was similarly associated with high levels of child aggression regardless of whether a mother’s parenting style was characterized by low, moderate, or high levels of maternal warmth.” (p. 2025). Unfortunately this argument of motherly love counteracting the pain and fear of being spanked as punishment is constantly used by parents to excuse the barbaric notion that spanking does no harm to