There has been a lot of talks about if Corporal Punishment is getting out of hand and if it’s wrong or not 70% of Americans believe this is right and the other 30% think it’s wrong. But in reality, it’s causing kids many emotional, social and academic problems and it shouldn’t be legal.
Using physical discipline is wrong and parents shouldn’t ever do it. For example, “The NAPNA issued a statement noting that the children who experience frequent corporal punishment are more likely to engage in violent behaviors in adulthood.” That could be easily avoided if parents know what they are doing is wrong and the impact it might have on their kid when they grow up. Children who are often hit by their parents are more likely to think physical abuse is acceptable in problem solving because that’s what their parents taught them growing up. Physical abuse is shown a lot in the novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ for example, when Okonkwo finds out his son wants to convert to Christianity. “Nwoye did not fully understand. But he was happy to leave his father. He would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new faith”. When Okonkwo found out his son wanted to convert, he was angry and held him by the neck and started chocking him out of anger and disappointment, that was wrong of him to do because that just made Nwoye want to leave and convert even more and want nothing to do with his father. If he sat down and controlled his anger and let Nwoye explain himself and how he’s feeling than Nwoye wouldn’t have had this anger and resentment towards his father.
To further elaborate on why physical abuse with your children is wrong is because it can cause emotional problems as the kid gets older. For example, when you compare kids who’ve been physically abused as children and children who haven’t their lives and how they act are totally different. “Abused children compared with non-abused children may have more difficulty with academic performance, self-control, self-image, and social relationships”. When you physically abuse your kids, it has more of an impact on them than you think, they don’t do as well in school as they should, and they most likely would grow up having trust issues because of their parent’s actions. Other kids just don’t know how to express themselves or they fear to. “Other emotional problems include anger, hostility, fear, humiliation and an inability to express feelings.” Children who are physically abused or they were when they were growing up are dealing with problems like that because they fear being in the wrong and people’s reactions to what they have to say and how they want to express themselves because with their parents it’s usually a negative result.
On the other hand, some may say that Physical abuse is good and that it’s a good form of punishment and keeps their kid respectful, aware and keeps them from doing wrong. “Today many black parents fear that a loose tongue or flash of temper could get their child killed by a trigger-happy cop. They would rather beat their offspring than bury them.” (NY Times) Many people beat their children not out of enjoyment or resentment towards them but instead they want to straighten them up and teach them not to walk around thinking nobody would ever lay a finger on them so when there out in the real world they know how to deal with the situation in a good manner or even how to avoid it. Another reason why parents think physical abuse is okay is because they think that’s the best way to get through to their kids because they’re going to remember it since it’s painful. “The single desirable association was between corporal punishment and increased immediate compliance on the part of the child”.
To conclude, Corporal punishment is wrong and shouldn’t be legal, as the child gets older there going to have many emotional, academic and social issues and they grow up thinking physical violence is okay. Parents need to find new ways to discipline their children and avoid the physical abuse, like don’t respond in anger all the time, learn how to control your emotions and think about how to discipline them rationally.