Is Competition Good? Essay

Physical punishment is normally used by parents specifically use on pre-school child. This is due to the reason that this way is quicker to discipline their children. Although there has been several discussions and debates focused on the effectiveness of spanking, parent still use such approach in disciplining their children. The spanking usually occurs when the children are already four years old. The study also shows that corporal punishment is more general among minorities and poor families. Apart from physical punishment, yelling and swearing in front of the children are also considered as harmful. One of the negative effects brought by physical punishment is the strong tendencies of children to develop anti-social behaviour. The idea of corporal punishment is based on offense and leads to violent behaviour both exhibited by the parent and eventually the child. Also, the child could channel the aggression to other people for example bullying their classmates in school. Besides, lying, cheating, and stealing could be traced to a child history who suffered from corporal punishment. Another side that needs to be considered is that the development of anti-social behaviour surround all socio-economic groups. According to some studies, the intended effect created by physical punishment is reversed in the long term. Spanking and slapping are proven to be ineffective strategy in promoting discipline. In reality, children who are inflicted of pain in the form of spanking and slapping have shown the highest tendencies of suffering from behavioural problems. When parents use strict methods discipline, children could exhibit anxiety, helplessness, and depression. Child abuse is often used as a counter argument to the rampant use of corporal punishment. If it’s usually done to children, such method would hinder the growth of young bodies. Moreover, children are not able to absorb  pain, which in some instances lead to injuries. Most of the reported injuries have been due to parents losing their control. There is also no direct evidence showing children fearing their parents when subjected to corporal punishment. The most common response from children includes isolation and rebelling from their parents. The corporal punishment could destroy relationships and lasting effects on the psyche of the children. Corporal punishment tends to diminish the moral values and pro-social behaviour of children. At an early age, children understand that to solve all the problems should involve violence and physical pain. Another critical element of physical punishment is its affect the mental health of the children being subjected to it. Some parents misunderstanding obedience and discipline with fear. There is the possibility that children become more secretive and this affects the dynamics of a parent-child relationship. In a nutshell, the disadvantages of physical punishment outweigh by a huge margin the benefits of spanking. Except promoting good behaviour and discipline, corporal punishment produces adverse effects. Parents have embraced traditional methods, but evidence through the years suggests that traditional physical punishment needs to end.