Introduction The society tasks parents with the obligation of disciplining their children. This ensures that the children become morally upright adults in future. Disciplining children at an early age is more effective than disciplining children when they are much older. Failure to discipline children may have dire consequences. However, the means of disciplining children have been a source of heated debate. Various parties argue that spanking is an efficient form of disciplining children. On the other hand, other parties argue that spanking children may do more harm than good. In the US, the black community has historically been a victim of discrimination. Therefore, the black community believes that a black child’s indiscipline may have dire consequences than that of a white child. Hence, parents should use all the necessary means to ensure that their children are well-behaved. Spanking is one of the means of disciplining children that parents may use (Patton para 3). Spanking Childhood mistreatment has dire consequences on the psychological development of a child. However, there is no clear understanding of the effects of spanking on the psychological development of a child (Healy para 2). Research conducted by two Canadian universities showed that adults who received physical punishment during their childhood, had a higher risk of suffering from personality disorders and substance abuse (Banks para 4). The research linked between two and seven percent of mental disorders to childhood physical punishment. The research concluded that parents should not use physical punishment to discipline their children regardless of their age (Healy para 3). However, the research did not determine whether mental disorder may be the primary reason why parents spanked the children. Emotionally disturbed children may engage in mischievous activities, which may irritate their parents. This may make their parents spank them (Banks para 14). The parents may believe that spanking prevents the development of ill behaviors. Generally, the black society believes that spanking children prevents them from various societal ills (Patton para 9). Therefore, parents believe that they are spanking their children as a means of offering love and support (McLoyd, Hill and Dodge 255). However, spanking may make children engage in the activities that parents loathe. The black community’s has a controversial stand on physical punishment. Despite the fact that the NAACP opposes corporal punishment in schools, the organization supports physical punishment of children by their parents (Patton para 15). Therefore, it is ironical for the organization to support physical punishment in one setting and oppose it in a different setting. The organization should have one stand on physical punishment regardless of the setting. Societal obligation to morality According to Singer, it is the duty of everybody in the society to ensure that the society has acceptable moral standards. It is the duty of a morally upright society to strive to reduce the suffering of other people. Singer presents his argument by claiming that it is wrong for individuals within the society to die due to lack of food, shelter or medical care (Singer para 5). Everyone in the society should have access to these basic needs