corporal punishment

Clarysabel Vallejo
English III AP-7th period

“Corporal Punishment”
Children are crying in the distance screaming for the pain to go away, bleeding on the floors and not a single soul is coming to their aid. How can parents let people other than themselves repeatedly strike their child on the hands or across the buttocks with a cane, stick, shoe or ruler, making them stand in the sun in hands up position, or making a student stand in the chair position along the wall, and injuries do occur; bruises are common, broken bones are not unusual. Children 's deaths have occurred in the U.S. and in other countries due to school corporal punishment. These are some of the horrors of corporal punishment that are carried out in educational institutions across the world. It is a practice that has been followed by societies throughout the ages. How the child will be punished is decided by the teacher, or headmaster, or any other non-teaching staff. The question arises that is it justified to use such a kind of act of violence in the name of enforcing discipline among young minds.
Corporal punishment has been around for ages and yet so very few are intervening to help save the children’s fates. “Ruptured eardrums, brain damage and other bodily injuries and death in some instances are some of the bad and tragic effects of corporal punishment.” (“Negative Effects”) Corporal punishment is practiced in countries all over the world and the rights given for the use of corporal punishment has been abused by many of these countries. Laying a hand on a child to get them to comply with the rules given is not a successful means of discipline. You just don’t go around beating all the children that don’t obey your rules, and you certainly do not touch another person’s child without their consent. As indicated by Justin Wyllie who has personally been a victim to corporal punishment and has witnessed it first-hand tells us what their punishments were. Some teachers had children cleaning the floor of the woodwork room with a toothbrush. Others pulled boys ears, hair, made them write pointless essays, made them get changed into their gym kit and out again-note the sexual nature of this power play. How is pulling a child’s hair, ear, making them clean the floors and writing an essay going to g them to focus or follow rules or stop them from misbehaving? You cannot control a child that is not yours, especially if you are taking away their respect and trust for you. In some cases children are being sexually abused. Corporal punishment is a right given to spank a child not sexually harasses them or beat them senseless. Children have defense mechanisms and if they are abused they will set up a barrier and no one will know of what the child is going through. “I felt quite early on that this was sufficient reason not to allow corporal punishment in schools, namely that teachers will use it as a cover for abuse & cannot be trusted to do otherwise.” Justine said to not trust the teachers, because they will lie and say that they just disciplined the child and nothing more. Children’s minds are not fully developed and that means they don’t fully understand the situation they are in. Teachers should have no right what so ever to lay a single finger on another person’s child. Parents also should not be giving the schools permission to practice corporal punishment on their child. Children have been badly beaten by teachers and yet the parents don’t see it as abuse. Children have been in the hospital for concussions, broken ribs, arms, legs and huge cashes on their back, face etc. this is what has happened under the car of the teachers is it just me or does it look like abuse yet? Teachers are abusing their right and getting carried away with all this “discipline” or so they say. The children are the ones who are suffering and will grow up with big problem in their future.
Imagine this: you send your child to a school that practices corporal punishment and at first you see it as an agreeable way of discipline, so you give the school the permission to enforce it on your child. One day you wake up late and are in hurry to take your child to school and one of the schools rules is they must be there on time. You arrive at the school ten minutes late and now your child is to be disciplined, because of you taking them late. The child had no fault in being late it was on you the parent. The school is going to so call spank your child for being late, because you gave them permission to but when the child comes home he/she has big welts on their back. The child tells you the schools disciplined them for being late. Now do you see something wrong with that picture?
Others may argue and say that corporal punishment in schools is just their way of discipline and fully agreeing to how spanking a child on the buttocks is a way of discipline, but by the parents hand not a teacher or principle or anyone other than the child’s parent. There is a big difference between disciplining a child and abusing a child. If you pull a child’s hair, brake their bones, hit them in the face or arm anywhere other than their buttocks its abuse and there is no denying it either. If you hit children just to feel some kind of sexual excitement it is still a form of abuse but if that is the case it will be seen as sexual abuse. To say you disciplined a child is to say you sent them to detention or sent them to the principle, because of a minor reason not to say you spanked them with a ruler on the hands. Children are like baby’s and they are still developing and learning right from wrong you can’t just abuse a child, because they were late for class, failed to do their homework or fallen asleep during a lesson. “You cannot punish out these behaviors that you do not want.” (“Smith”) There is other ways to discipline a child and beating them till blood is shed is defiantly not the right way to do it. There are much simpler ways to fix the situation such as talk to the child or sit with the child’s parents and have them speak with their child. If that doesn’t work than yes spanking a child is okay, but only by the parents hand not by the teachers or principle or anyone else in that matter.
Children’s minds are like unborn babies they must be cared for loved and you must be gentle and patient with them as they develop. If you do none of that then the baby will be left all alone and no one will be there to help them develop. Corporal punishment has other affects to the children than just physical damage it can also affect their mental development. As indicated by Joan Durrant corporal punishment has been found to be consistently related to poor mental health: including depression, unhappiness, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness in children and youth. The mind is a very delicate piece of work and without it you cannot function properly. If teachers continue to physically punish children than they will be causing serious damage to the child’s mental development. If the brain is damaged than how will the child learn? “A growing body of research has shown that spanking and other forms of physical discipline can pose serious risk to children, but many parents aren’t hearing the message.” (“Smith”) If parents are not paying attention to their child’s learning development than that means nothing is being done. The children will learn and develop over time and if physical punishment is stopping that development than how will the children fix what problems need fixing. Teachers are punishing these children from left to right with no care in the world. They don’t say how many times they punish one child they just tell you how many they do punish. If they are specifically punishing just one child than that child is for sure to have a lower IQ, because the more frequently a child is beaten it affects their IQ. Children who have been subjected to corporal punishment are more than likely the ones who have a lower IQ than others who are not subjected to corporal punishment. If a child’s IQ is low than they will have a harder time in school, because their mind has not quite developed the concepts and with that they will end up being faced with more damage. “In fact one study found that in states where corporal punishment is frequently used, schools have performed worse academically than those in states that prohibit corporal punishment”.(“Corporal Punishment”) Not only are the children suffering but the schools are also suffering thanks to the kids academic levels being low. You would think that if the schools are suffering than they would stop with the punishing, but no they don’t. It has been researched and yet not even the parents are stepping in and putting an end to their child’s minds being damaged. If children’s IQs are dropping than how will they become a doctor or fire fighter when they grow up? They will not be able to live up to their dreams and all thanks to teachers wanting to so called “discipline” them. As said by Durrant corporal punishment has not been found to be an effective means of achieving positive long-term developmental outcomes, such as moral internalization or social problem-solving.
Arguers will say that they are helping the child’s future and being fully aware that the school does help the child’s mind develop and helps them chase their dreams, but physically punishing a child does nothing for the child’s future. As stated by Serena Gordon the more spanking, the slower the development of the child’s mental ability. But even small amounts of spanking made a difference. Children’s minds are fragile and if being physically abused causes it it’s about time the schools put an end to it. If children decide they want to go to college when they get older then they will need to have outstanding scores on their SAT or ACT. If the child’s IQ is low it will be hard for the child to get up to that criteria the colleges are requiring even than it will be a challenge just for them to make up into high school. You might say you are helping their future, but if you lower their IQs than how will they go to college and better their future? “Childhood is not only a long journey but also a delicate part of one’s life because it is the time when ones personality is molded into what they become later in life.” (“Gordon”) These children are looking to become someone big in life and maybe even become someone’s hero. Children need time to develop their little minds and they need all the help they can get especially if they want to succeed and live up to their dreams.
“Monkey see, monkey do” can sum up all that is corporal punishment. If children see their parents, teachers or principles using corporal punishment it trains the child to be violent the child will think it educates them that it is an acceptable means of education and should be taught to others. The child who receives corporal punishment is more likely to be instilled with rage and hostility even in their adulthood. As stated by Smith many studies have shown that physical punishment-including spanking, hitting and other means of causing pain-can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury and mental health problems for children. These schools that still practice corporal punishment will have higher drop outs as the children develop over time they will grow tired of all the abuse and retaliate. Childs minds will develop even if it takes time the children will eventually grow up and fully understand what is happening to them. Adults believe as children their opinions don’t matter and that children have no rights to their body, but they do everyone in this world has rights to their own body. As indicated by Lillian Hannah Banda often times, children are viewed as second-class humans, but they are as much entitled too their equal enjoyment of rights just as adults. As children they have a voice whether a parent or teacher tells them they don’t. As the first amendment states “freedom of speech” it portrays to all and that includes children and as they grow older their minds won’t keep quite anymore. Corporal punishments in schools are making children ten times angrier than they already are. Teens are much harder to control than a toddler, but you shouldn’t have to control them. You just need to understand them and listen especially with teens they are practically almost adults and you shouldn’t be hitting them around nor should you do it to toddlers who are weaken than you. Children will grow up to despise you for all the pain and agony you have forced upon them through their childhood. All of that just leads to hatred and then hatred leads to anger. If teachers try to enforce their corporal punishment they might as well releases the Hulk, because kids will get angry and get aggressive. Corporal punishment is not helping these kids learn self-discipline nor is it teaching them anything besides that by inflicting pain on others to get them to comply. There is a biblical saying “Do onto others, what you would want them to do onto you”.
With that being said imagine you are a principle at one of these schools that practice corporal punishment. One day a teacher brings in a student and tells you they were falling asleep in class. The teacher or you must take disciplinary action, so you being in higher power get the pleasure of doing so. The child is to be spanked by you and as you spank them you get carried away an up hitting their back and legs. As being the one punisher you wouldn’t like to he victim who is being beaten only because they were falling asleep. You would end up getting angy and wanting what happened to you to happen to them. With that being said don’t do something that you don’t mind have done to you.
Opposing viewers may state that corporal punishment is not intended to make the children aggressive and being fully aware of what is intended, but either intended or not it does lead to anger issues in the children and they do become aggressive. If children are being aggressive at such a young age the probability of them being aggressive as they get older are at high risk. As said before “monkey see, monkey do.” Stated by Human Rights Watch often children who experience or witness physical violence will themselves develop disruptive and violent behaviors, further disturbing their classmates’ learning as well as their own. It has been studied and if the outcomes are of what they say then corporal punishment will just make matters worse. An aggressive child is just a child filled with rage and maybe you were the cause of it, but you must take responsibility for what emotions you are trying to inflict in these children. Aggression in children can lead to other teachers getting upset and then BAM! The child is in the hospital fighting for their life. Anger has a switch whether you flip that that switch on or leave it off is entirely up to you, but remember it’s up to you if you don’t touch it than life is the same but if you flip that switch it’s on you. Children will get angry and if these children are continuing to b around what is causing the anger the will develop in their mind that them being angry is normal. Later on in their life they will still be full of rage an if there are people around that age will be put onto hem and then it’s a never ending cycle of anger.
Corporal punishment is not an acceptable means to discipline children it affects the child’s behavior and mental development and it play with their emotions. Corporal punishment is a horrible way to teach children self-discipline and is cruel to say the least. To make the children’s education safer the use of corporal punishment should be gone and done with, so children can get their equal share of education. Other safe disciplinary actions could be laid out and made sure to ensure the safety of the children education. This is already a very violent world. Where people kill other people and people get beaten any time of day. There is no reason for us to teach young children that violence is an acceptable behavior.

Works Cited
“Corporal Punishment in Schools and It’s Effect on Academic Success.” Hrw.org. Human Rights Watch,15 Ap. 2010. Web11 Feb.2013.
Gordon, Serena. “Spanking May Lower Kids IQS.” Coxhealth.com. Coxhealth,26 Sept.2009.Web.11 Feb.2013.
“Negative Effects of Corporal Punishment on Children.” Cyc-net.org. Lillian Hannah Banda, 1 Nov.2006.Web.11 Feb.2013.
Power, Clark, Joan Durrant, Peter Newell. “Against Corporal Punishment-Moving Toward Constructive Child Discipline.” Nospank.net. N.P., 2005.Web.11 Feb.2013.
Smith L. Brendan. “The Case Against Spanking.” Apa.org. American Psychological Association, Ap.2012.Web.11 Feb.2013.
Wyllie, Justine. “Why Physical Punishment in Schools is a Bad Idea.” Nospank.net. N.P., Oct.2002.Web.11 Feb.2013.

Cited: “Corporal Punishment in Schools and It’s Effect on Academic Success.” Hrw.org. Human Rights Watch,15 Ap. 2010. Web11 Feb.2013. Gordon, Serena. “Spanking May Lower Kids IQS.” Coxhealth.com. Coxhealth,26 Sept.2009.Web.11 Feb.2013. “Negative Effects of Corporal Punishment on Children.” Cyc-net.org. Lillian Hannah Banda, 1 Nov.2006.Web.11 Feb.2013. Power, Clark, Joan Durrant, Peter Newell. “Against Corporal Punishment-Moving Toward Constructive Child Discipline.” Nospank.net. N.P., 2005.Web.11 Feb.2013. Smith L. Brendan. “The Case Against Spanking.” Apa.org. American Psychological Association, Ap.2012.Web.11 Feb.2013. Wyllie, Justine. “Why Physical Punishment in Schools is a Bad Idea.” Nospank.net. N.P., Oct.2002.Web.11 Feb.2013.