Domestic Corporal Punishment is Always Immoral

Hello Rosalie. Thank you for accepting, and good luck to you as well.For sake of convenience, I will write “domestic corporal punishment” as DCP.The exact origin of DCP is unknown. Many people say that the basic concept of beating as a way of asserting dominance comes from the early days of animal domestication, and that its use was expanded to humans. Others quote the Bible, which writes “Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell” (Proverbs 23:14). Regardless of its origin, DCP continues to be practiced around the world. Its use takes multiple forms, but the most common include spanking, paddling and whipping the child’s buttocks or the back.The main idea behind why parents use DCP is to teach their children that what they did was wrong, and there are consequences for their actions. If a child finds him/herself getting beaten for something they did, they know what they did was wrong. What I believe matters far more than just acknowledging that something was wrong is learning why that action was wrong. When a child is beaten for poor behavior, they rarely learn why their behavior was wrong. Even if their parent attempts to teach them while beating them, the child would likely only remember the beating portion. Attempting to learn anything in a stressful and painful environment is difficult. The only idea they learn is that “if I do this again, I will get beaten.” Kids will then adopt this sort of mindset, thinking “I should not do this because I will get beaten for it,” while a much healthier and more practical mindset would be “I should not do this because I know it’s not the right thing to do.” Unfortunately, the latter way of thinking is usually not the end result. DCP teaches the child to fear the consequence of their actions, rather than understand why their behavior was wrong.Many studies show that DCP is not only ineffective at dissipating poor behavior, it can actually increase it. “Frequent use of CP (ie, mother's use of spanking more than twice in the previous month) when the child was 3 years of age was associated with increased risk for higher levels of child aggression when the child was 5 years of age, even with controlling for the child's level of aggression at age 3 and the aforementioned potential confounding factors [maternal child physical maltreatment, psychological maltreatment, and neglect, intimate partner aggression victimization, stress, depression, substance use, and consideration of abortion] and key demographic features” (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org...). This makes sense. Children tend to model their own behavior after their parents’ behavior. DCP teaches children to use violence to deal with their problems, because that is exactly what their parents are doing to them. Research shows that “Children who were physically punished were more likely to endorse hitting as a means of resolving their conflicts with peers and siblings” (http://www.apa.org...). This can lead to bullying and other violent behaviors.Most parents do not initially punish their children in what most would consider extreme ways, but the situation does not always remain so. “Even good intentioned discipline can lose effectiveness over time. In order to get the intended message through to the child, parents will eventually have to punish a child longer and harder” (http://www.english.umd.edu...). At this point, the likelihood of extreme harm becomes greater. “Harsh physical punishment was associated with increased odds of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse/dependence, and several personality disorders...Approximately 2% to 5% of Axis I disorders and 4% to 7% of Axis II disorders were attributable to harsh physical punishment”(http://pediatrics.aappublications.org...).For a nation that appears an advocate for social change, modernity and freedom for all races, genders, religions, ethnicities and ages, it is ironic that the USA is not one of the 48 countries that has outlawed DCP (http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org...). In the face of overwhelming research telling parents to stop practicing DCP, they continue on. “Sixty-five percent of Americans approve of spanking children, a rate that has been steady since 1990” (http://abcnews.go.com...). DCP is immoral. It hurts the child physically and mentally, and can cause them to become aggressive down the road. Even a light spanking reinforces the notion that the best way to deal with issues is through violence. Violence is not and should not be necessary to teach children right from wrong. There are plenty of alternatives that do not involve pain, such as teaching children about the Golden Rule. DCP is an outdated tradition that has no place in modern society.