Argumentative Essay On Spanking Children

Spanking children is a very controversial topic; there are people who agree with spanking and there are those who disagree. Everyone’s decision varies from if they were spank or not as children. Some people believe physical punishment actually alters the brain, it can traumatize a child as well as have a decrease of gray matter in certain areas of the prefrontal cortex that have been linked to depression, addiction and other mental disorders. Others, may say there is no damage left on children and it can alter unwanted behavior affectedly. Regardless of the reason for what people stand for when it comes to spanking, it is my belief that in the end the outcomes very on the individual being spanked and how they react to spanking. There are many
elements that affect if the outcome is positive or negative. For example, I believe spanking should only occur if a child mental capacity is able to process why they are being spanked followed by a conversation as to why they were spanked. It should also not be the only mean of correcting unwanted behavior in children. If possible I think It should be every parents goal to not resort to spanking. As a child I was not spanked, nevertheless, I knew my parents could spank me; witness cousins and childhood friends get spanked. American’s beliefs and values are that nothing cruel and unusual should be done to anyone, however, corporal punishment is welcomes in the privacy of their homes; I believe corporal punishment can be a more effective way to prevent crimes instead of caging criminals.
Locking up people in cages is the moral failure of American’s prism-industrial complex.
Plenty of people think that American’s incarceration rate reflects the justice of retribution. Making a valid point Jeff Jacoby in Bring Back Flogging said, “Now we practice a more enlightened, more humane way of disciplining wrongdoers; we lock them up in cages” (197). To lock someone in a cage is to strip them from liberty. Most of us think this sort of total deprivation of freedom can be justified when a crime is serious enough and most of us think that very serious crimes can justify very long jail sentences, however, does longer sentences cause more harm or good? Let’s think of first time offenders with multiple charges for a minute, wouldn’t long jail time only expose these individuals to higher ranking criminals. Now if corporal punishment was to exist they could receive the wipes adequate to the crime they committed, avoid jail time and have a higher chance to correct the unwanted behavior. In order for this to work children cannot be spanked in their homes. When children are spanked at home for the wrong reasons and enter the area of abuse children become immune to spanking. Aside from children becoming immune most parents spank for wrong reasons; out of frustration or depression. Short tempers can cause parents to abuse their children and lose sight and control, they might have bad judgment and be punishing children higher than the unwanted behavior was. Instead of using
corporal punishment on children and later put them in cages for becoming criminals, why not do the opposite; allow children to be raised without spanking and if they do become criminals later in life corporal punishment could be use and be affective. Being the first time it would be use on a person it may shock the body and affectively change unwanted behavior from the individual. Public humiliation is not something American’s are exposed to or see as welcoming.
It is morally wrong that our society sends all criminals to jail. Jacoby said it well, “Commit murder, go to prison, sell cocaine, go to prison, kite checks, go to prison. It is an all-purpose punishment, suitable- or so it would seem for crimes violent and none violent, motivated by hate or by greed, plotted coldly or committed in a fit of passion” (197). Every year a prisoner is kept incarcerated increasing their odds of committing another crime when they are released. The individual is released and if they are ex-convict the odds of them obtaining employment is low. Employers don’t want former prisoners working for them, and when money gets tight it’s easier to turn to crime. Without employment it gets even harder for them to seek higher education since financial aid disqualifies them from receiving services. These are just the surface of their problems they face; finding a place to live does not come easy to them. Our society sets up ex-convicts up to fail in America. They get stuck in a cycle.
Corporal punishment may not be as bad if compared to being tortured for years in prison.
Rape in jail is widely ignored. Prisoners are raped behind bars each day. American prison system is a sexual jungle where there is predators and prey. Prison officials quietly permit rape as a way to control the population. It is as administration look at inmates as animals thrown into cages. American’s choose to ignore rape occurs in prisons so they can sleep with peace of mind at night. It is morally wrong to send all wrong doers to prison and allow them to get raped my inmates with control in prison. Younger and mental illness prisoners are at high risk of being tortured by rape from other inmates. How can rehabilitation be possible in such a dangerous environment, furthermore, as Jacoby sates, “The Globe reported in 1994 that more than two hundred thousand prison inmates are raped each year, usually to the indifference of the guards”
(198).
American’s say they are for protecting humans from anything cruel and unusual, however, children get spanked every day in homes; corporal punishment can be a more effective way to prevent crimes instead of caging criminals and exposing them to a more dangerous living situation.