SAY NO TO SPANKING—— CHILD DISCIPLINING STRATEGIES

Spanking can be termed as negative disciplining that affects innocent children’s physical and mental health. The latest researches & studies have established the fact that spanking does not work in the long run, but the same is just a self-deception of the parents and the teachers. A healthy environment is a healthy discipline strategy that works well in raising your kids. 

Healthy discipline strategies mean & include, setting limits, hearing your children, paying close attention, telling them politely what is right and what’s wrong, happily affording their unpleasant acts and appreciating their positive acts to encourage them, etc. 

Various studies have proved that physical punishments such as spanking, beating, or hitting a child can result in serious health problems to the children such as: 

Physical injuries Antisocial behavior Depression

Mental health issues Demoralizing Irritability of mood

Increased aggression Child-Parent rifts  Lack of confidence

Despite the ban on physical punishment, it has been observed that nearly one-third of the parents complain every week about spanking their children. The fact is that there are certain teachers who still believe that spanking is the only way to teach a child effectively. According to Gustavo Carlo Millsap, a Professor of Diversity at the University of Missouri, “Our findings show that differences exist in the roles of parenting, temperament, and self-regulation and how they impact a child’s development”.   

On the other hand, discipline is the best technique as it enables the parents to teach their children what’s right and what’s wrong without scolding or punishing them physically. New studies totally discourage physical punishment strategies and endorse the fact of discipline. Broadly speaking, spanking snubs brain development of a child’s besides other negative impacts such as; changing biology, etc. 

The question arises why do the parents spank their children? 

1. A Redundant Tool: Parents and teachers must recognize that the time has passed when spanking used to be thought an effective tool to discipline the children.  The latest researches have created awareness among parents, teachers, and children that positive discipline is much more effective than that spanking. According to Curtas, “We know there are better techniques, like positive discipline, that are more effective. Therefore, children should be explained what’s right and what’s wrong instead of using redundant tools to regulate their emotions. According to the new researches, children should be taught logically. For example, if a child breaks an egg, don’t give him/her any physical punishment, instead, you should tell the child that today he will not have any egg to eat or don’t give him any pocket money for two/ three days. 

2. An Illegal Act: There are a number of countries (including the United States of America) that have imposed a complete ban on physical punishment of minor children in schools and at homes and have declared corporal punishment an illegal act. However, it is the need of the hour that the young children should neither be insulted nor given any verbal or physical tortures so that they may grow in a free environment. No social, religious, medical or psychological policy allows committing this illegal act and the same should be curbed with iron hands in the best interest of our future development. 

   3. Every Action has Reaction:  We often hear a lot about spanking a child, but we never think of the reason behind this. We can’t always blame parents for the sorry state of affairs. Curtas has also pointed out a number of cogent reasons under which parents use spanking techniques. He says that it is necessary that the caregivers, school teachers and parents must use certain ways & methods that are effective in disciplining a child. 

Other Best Options: Children are our future and we are their well-wishers as we want to see them rolling forward. We should keep in our minds that there are other best options & alternatives to discipline our children. We should be very much careful in opting punishment to discipline a child instead of spanking him/her on a little lapse. Some of the techniques are being stated below briefly: 

• Time-out: Whenever your child misbehaves, remove him immediately from the place and deprive him/her of all things that were fun. Resultantly, the kid will not get any attention in the time-out period. The child will be away from the parents and other family members. Soon, she will realize the situation about right and wrong.  
• Forfeiture of child’s favorites: In case the child does not follow your instructions and you seem losing control, don’t spank him; instead apply positive discipline to teach him. Forfeit his toys & other belongings he loves the most and tell him that he will get back the stuff when he learns how to behave. 
• Learning Opportunity: We don’t want to get the child to stop doing whatever we don’t like, but the thing is we should teach our child a lesson from his mistakes. A day will come when the things shall be all set without any course of punishment.

Conclusion:  Treat your child humanly and according to his/her psychology and biological influences. Say no to spanking and prefer other positive discipline strategies. 

Recap what we’ve just learned: 

• Why do parents spank their children?
• Spanking is a redundant tool and should be discarded
• Spanking is an illegal act on the part of parents, teachers, and caregivers
• Other best options: time-out, forfeiture of child’s favorites, and learning opportunities