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Spanking a Child Abuse?

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Spanking a Child Abuse?
Spanking a child, Abuse?
Wednesday Comp II
May 12, 2010

A Majority of people in America feel that spanking is an acceptable tool for disciplining children. I believe that spanking your child should not be the way to discipline a child. You do not need to spank or physically punish your child to get an understanding out. There are other ways to punish your child than laying a hand or object on them. Such as taking something away from them, or making them sit in the corner.
I consider spanking abuse, because you are laying a hand on a child and it could cause a bruise. When children are young they still do not understand what is right to wrong and younger children like to explore. From what I have seen if you spank your child they slowly resist you, when they get older it could cause problems with your relationship with them. Rather than teaching kids how to change their behavior, spanking makes them fearful of their parents and merely teaches them to avoid getting caught.
Spanking continues to come under criticism as a form of discipline. The community has two obvious styles of parenting: "Old-school" parents believe that physical punishment is sometimes required, and "new-school" parents use nonphysical techniques, such as "timeouts" and open dialogue, to correct inappropriate conduct. Many child-development experts do not advocate the use of physical punishment, arguing that it rarely alters a child 's behavior and can lead to child abuse. Consequently, bills have been enacted in 19 states that prohibit parents from spanking their children, particularly with belts, whips, or electrical cords. Nonetheless, some parents claim that spanking is needed to correct bad conduct in children, and they maintain that it is of benefit to children when they are older. California assembly woman Sally Lieber is offering a form of a bill that would ban the spanking of children less than 4 years



References: Sayre, Carolyn. "There 's No Sure Hit Here." Time International [Europe Edition] 169.7 (2007): 10. General OneFile. Web. 5 May 2010. Slade, Eric P., and Lawrence S. Wissow. "Spanking in early childhood and later behavior problems: a prospective study of infants and young toddlers." Pediatrics 113.5 (2004): 1321+. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 May 2010 Larzelere, Robert E. "A review of the outcomes of parental use of nonabusive or customary physical punishment." Pediatrics 98.4 (1996): 824+. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 May 2010. “Major study links spanking of children to later aggression and behavior problems. (Children).” Jet 15 July 2002: 33. Academic OneFile. Web.12 May 2010.

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