The definitions of spanking and child abuse vary widely, but most people do not understand the differences. The Oxford English Dictionary describes spanking as “To slap or smack (a person, esp. a child) with an open hand” (Chigbo 2004). The difference between spanking and child abuse is really all in three main points. How often you spank your child, where you spank them, and what you spank them with. Taking any of those three items too far is really when spanking becomes child abuse.
When spanking your child, it is very important to remember how often you spank them. Because how often you spank your child has a huge part in the determination of whether or not it is child abuse. If your child gets spanked often, they will begin to believe that if …show more content…
Spanking, compared to other forms of punishment, is really preferred because of the speed of the punishment. When you spank a child, it usually takes less than a minute or two but if you put your child in time out, it takes much longer and the child would want the punishment to be over as quickly as possible so that they could get back to the busy life of a toddler. Some parents take away one of their toys after their child misbehaved. The child would rather just be smacked on the bottom once or twice and then allowed to play on. If you do something that the child would prefer to have happen to them, then the child will respond better to the