Domestic Corporal Punishment is Always Immoral

My opponent mentions the subjectiveness of this debate. I realize that morality is subjective. But, Con accepted my definition of immoral as "behavior that does not conform to what is generally accepted as right." I am quite certain that the majority of people accept that it is not right to physically hurt a child if there is no good reason to. I intend to demonstrate that there is no good reason to ever physically hurt a child as a means of punishment. I will now go through and address each the points my opponent listed in favor of DCP. My opponent posted a Yahoo site where she found the points, but the link wasn"t working for me. I did some research and found the original source here, titled "8 Reasons to Spank Your Kids" (http://madamenoire.com...). Since the following points were not created by Con, I will address the original writer simply as "the author." 1). You want to be respected The author writes "To be fear is to be respected." I beg to differ. This is not a subjective matter, rather this statement is simply wrong by definition. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines fear as "to be afraid of (something or someone)" and respect as "a feeling of admiring someone or something that is good, valuable, important." In general, people fear terrorists; they do not respect them. The author also writes that DCP "teaches [children] to submit to authority regardless of whether or not they agree." This is despicable. The author is saying that children should never think for themselves and blindly do what they are told. There is a difference between being obedient to your parents and blindly following their orders without ever asking why. Children are naturally curious, yet the author seems to dismiss this basic need of theirs to learn and explore, and says parents should not give them this freedom. 2). Love I will pay the author (and Con) the compliment of assuming they do not really believe that only parents who physically punish their child truly love them and "do what is necessary to get the desired result," compared to parents who do not physically punish their child. Assuming I am right, than this point is meaningless. Also, who does the "desired result" actually benefit, the child or the parents? 3). You want to teach them how to make good decisions The author says "[children] need to know consequences hurt." Literally, might I add. I fail to see the connection between how punishing a child with pain teaches them to make good decisions. Rather, it teaches them only to avoid whatever they did or else they will be beaten. It does not give them knowledge they will be able to apply to other situations. Teaching a child good decision making does not come through fear or violence, but through communication, wisdom and new ways of thinking that a child"s parents can facilitate. Points four through seven are a more or less repeats of the author"s main views. All of these points are from the perspective of the parent. They never consider any viewpoints from the other side (the child's). The tone of the author suggests children are helpless, misguided machines that need a programmer rather than sentient beings who require more than just "do this" and "don't do that"; they should be learning why to do or not do these things. My opponent appears to have left out the eighth and final reason this author writes for why parents should spank their children. Either Con forgot to include it, or she realized that it is nonsensical. 8). It works best "Some kids need it, period. When time-out, talking and taking away toys doesn't work, you have to get that butt." In other words, when you can't get through to them after a couple attempts, they are a lost cause; beat them until they submit to you. I see why my opponent would exclude this point, but I won"t make assumptions. The second half of my opponent's argument was also mainly copied from a website. I was hoping to see some original writing from Con, but I guess I"ll have to wait until she makes her first rebuttal in round to hear her voice. My opponent writes "spanking is not abusive." As my opponent pointed out that "immoral" is subjective, so is this statement. Ask a parent who uses DCP if they abuse their children and they will most certainly say no. Ask their children if their parents abuse them and their response may tell a different story. This is a gray area, as the distinction between physical punishment and abuse has never been clear. Next, my opponent writes "Spanking does not have an effect on a child's mental health." I have provided ample evidence to show this claim is false. The final words of my opponent's argument writes "Parents that love their children and are involved in their lives may use spanking, but they will never use spanking in a way that harms their children." Never? In 2013, over 600,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect, with 27.3% of victims under three (3) years of age (http://www.acf.hhs.gov...). Imagine how many of these cases began with "harmless" DCP, and then eventually escalated to something extreme. While reading, I struggled to find a single reason to take my opponent"s second source of argument seriously, especially when the page title is called "But the Experts Say..." (http://www.angelfire.com...). First, the author provides no credentials on his "about" page. All he says is "I'm a student of education and psychology with an advanced degree in psychology." He doesn't even say where he got his education. The three sources that he used to justify DCP (which my opponent pasted at the bottom of round two) are around two decades old. My oldest source is from 2009. While this doesn't mean my sources are better only because they are more recent, newer studies tend to increase in accuracy due to better technology and new methods. Aside from the overwhelming consensus from accredited researchers that DCP is both ineffective and detrimental to children's health, attempting to teach children right from wrong by inflicting pain just doesn't make sense, especially given that a lot of these children are very young and are not able to fully comprehend the situation. I believe that the only reason DCP is still practiced today is not because parents believe it is moral or that it works, but simply because it is the way many people have been raised. They believe that it is the correct thing to do when they finally have children of their own. I eagerly await my opponent's response.