Apply the Rod or Spoil the Child
It is the natural scheme of life. Human beings produce children and thus are classified as parents. It is and has always been the parent's job to raise and nurture the child, to teach it right from wrong, and to protect it from the harshness of the surrounding environment. However, when the child strays or behaves in a destructive manner, what steps should a parent take to correct such behavior? Some psychologists suggest that a good old-fashioned spanking is just the ticket. Others say that such action will emotionally damage the child later in life. With the parent ultimately responsible for the child, it's hard to know what is right or wrong when your 3 year-old is beating his head against the floor in a full-blown temper tantrum. 25 years ago, parents would have picked the child up, spanked it, and taken care of the tantrum effectively. Today, parents are more apt to try anything other that a swat on the behind. Reason, however, doesn't impress a 3 year-old so the behavior is often ignored because passive parents don't want to risk mentally scaring their child. The experts have basically made a huge issue out of something very simple. If spanking is as harmful as they say it is,
The debate rages on, and we ask the age-old question, "who is right?" The experts believe they are right. The pro-spanking people believe they are right. The answer is that both are right, and neither are right. By that I mean that it is all a matter of choice. Every individual or couple that raises a child has the choice to do what they feel is best for them, their family and the young life involved. Therefore, if a parent chooses to spank, then that parent should not be looks down upon or arrested because of that decision. Conversely, if a parent chooses to use passive methods of discipline, that should be his choice as well. I believe that the two forms go hand in hand, and one cannot be effective without the other. The statistics show that more people condone spanking as a form of discipline, but if a child is spanked every time he makes the smallest mistake, then the studies done concerning mental damage of the child start to make a lot of sense. Part of teaching in any society is drilling the idea into the child's head, but also allowing for a certain amount of mistakes and miscues along the way. Passive methods of discipline are able to accomplish this very effectively. However, whether we are talking about a two-year-old or a ten-year-old, the basic needs are the same, because no matter what style you prefer, one thing has got to be present, and that is love. A child can sense love at virtually any age, and if discipline is administered without love, the child knows it. If that happens, you can give them all the time outs and spankings in the world and it won't do any good. That is where the abuse comes in. In my opinion, discipline without love is abuse, from the slightest unkind word to the worst beating. A loving parent can use all forms of punishment effectively. So instead of arguing about which method of child rearing is more effective, lets all just love our kids with all our hearts, teach them right from wrong, praise the good and correct the bad, and never let them doubt for a moment that we love them. Love is the common factor in the whole argument, and sometimes "tough love" is the best way to go. 6) Sandlin Supports Local Solutions To Fight Juvenile Crime, http://www.house.gov/sandlin/coljuvj.htm. 1) Child Victims and the Law, National Victim Center. http://www.nvc.org/infolink/info56.htm 4) Brigid Schulte/Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Spanking kids may make them worse: Study is first to document corporal punishment doesn't aid in discipline, The Dallas Morning News, 8/15/97, pp. 1A.
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Approximate Word count = 3079
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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