Continuing the Cycle

I have a three-year-old niece Jasmine. She is absolutely one of the most adorable children on the planet. She has a laugh that is contagious and a pair of the warmest brown eyes. A person could not help but to adore her. The only thing is Jasmine, has always been a very extroverted child. She will get into anything even if she only has a second. She has done everything possible that three year old could do. Some of her favorite pastimes are drawing on the wall in crayons and poking her pet turtle in the head, with her finger so he stays in his shell. She is priceless but even as adorable as Jasmine, must be discipline. In my family, spankings have always been the first choice in solving disciplinary problems. It was my parent’s choice of discipline and now my sister as well. Jasmine receives spankings quite often but now in return she likes to give them. Once she received a spanking for plugging an electric plug into an outlet. She now knows that it is a, “no-no,” so in return, she spanks anyone on the hand that goes near an electric outlet. I often wonder if by choosing to discipline Jasmine, through corporal punishment is it continuing the cycle. I, myself believe that corporal punishment is not an effective method in the discipline of a child because it has not been proven to enhance development of their character, it can have a negative effect on the psychological development off a child, and it promotes the continuous cycle of physical violence.
Corporal punishment is not an effective way to discipline a child because it has not proved to enhance the development of their character. From an early age, we learned the differences between right and wrong. It is believe by most, that engaging in any physical altercation other than sports is wrong. The question I propose, “Why is it that some parents believe that by physically punishing a child, the child will learn right from wrong.” Place into our heads that hitting in any form or fashion is unacceptable, so then why do parents feel it is acceptable for them. I remember once as a child, my mother and I went shopping. Somehow during the course if her shopping, we were separated. I was just a child so I did what any child would have done. I found the toy section. Once there I begin to search for a new Barbie to add to my collection. My mother meaning while, search the entire store for little ole’ me. She found me sitting in the middle of the toy aisle, putting on a fashion show with Barbie. She was furious. Being a child at the time, I did not really understand why she was so angry. I soon found out when we return home. I received a spanking that night. I thought it was simply because I had made my mother angry. Now that I am older, I know it was because I was disobedient and not paying attention. She told me while in the car, to keep up with her at all times. I understand now that I should have paid attention but I still feel physically punishing me was not the answer. The spanking did not teach me to pay attention. The spanking taught me not to make my mother angry. Corporal punishment is not an effective method of discipline a child because it can have a negative result on the psychological development of a child. Studies show that children punished physically are more likely to engage in aggressive, antisocial behavior (Thomas, 2004). I have often heard parents state, “This is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you.” I wonder are they really being honest. I believe that a child can upset a child to the point where the parent spanks the child out of anger. I am not saying that the child was not wrong. I believe parents should never spank a child when angry. If the parent chooses to hit the child when angry, I feel parent is giving the child the okay, to turn to violence. The parent should always calm down before discipline their child. The parent should also explain to the child what they wrong and why they are being punish. Parents do not want to leave their child with the same thought my mother left me, not to make the parent angry. If a child does wrong and the parent is unaware, the child will be afraid to tell the parent. The child will not want to come to the parent because they will be upset. Growing up one of my biggest priorities was refraining from making my parents. I later, found it hard coming to my parents and talking to them. It took sometimes to open up to my parents about anything.
Corporal punishment is not an effective method to discipline a child because it further promotes the cycle of physical violence. Parents can sometimes give children the misconception that the reason why they received a spanking, because they upset the parent. I felt this way during the incident with my own mother. The child may feel that the parent spanked them because afterwards the parent felt better. It was a way of releasing tension for the parent. The child then picks upon the tension of the parents and may choose the same method of releasing their tension. The parent is therefore continuing the cycle o physical violence. There are plenty of methods to discipline a child other than laying a hand on them. I found as a child, taking away something that I enjoyed was an effective way of making me behave. In the end, I knew if I wanted it back, I would have to behave. Corporal punishment, I felt and still feel never needed to discipline a child. We do not need to spank a child to make them. Believe or not, children are pretty, smart. If a parent take away something the child enjoys it becomes clear, when you behave it will return. The same rule applies when rewarding a child. Rewarding for good behavior is a cycle we want to promote. The method is one that works. The continuous of the cycle of rewards for good behavior is one a parent should promote, not the cycle of physical violence. A spanking alone, cannot teach a child the difference between right and wrong.