Despite the unintentional harmful outcomes of corporal punishments, this disciplinary method still exists in many countries, including the United States. However, many experts warned that physical discipline is ineffective and often places kids at risk for abuse.
What Is Corporal Punishment?
Corporal punishment aka "physical discipline" can be defined and understood in many different ways. But based on UNICEF's "Educate, Don't Punish!" manual, corporal punishment is defined as "the use of physical force causing pain, but not wounds, as a means of discipline."
Even though corporal punishment is strongly entrenched in the society and even passed on through generations, UNICEF stresses that it is a wrong method to discipline a child. The organization also aims to raise awareness to eliminate corporal punishments, not by psychological abuse substitution but to carry out non-violent discipline strategies.
Why Corporal Punishment Is A Bad Idea
There are so many reasons why parents resort to corporal punishment. It may be due to the fact that physical discipline can alleviate tension or it may be the fact that many parents believed it's an appropriate method to children's education.
Unfortunately, corporal punishment is a bad idea. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics has officially recommended against it because the organization believed physical discipline is "ineffective" and only puts kids at risk for abuse, The New York Times reports.
In addition, there are proofs that corporal punishment can trigger aggressive behavior on children, not mention the disturbing effects of physical punishment on kids' mental health. In a previous Parent Herald report, corporal punishment can also lead to anti-social tendencies on children and the possibility of kids defying their parents.
"Spanking is probably not going to correct the behavior in the short-term and it's very likely to lead to mental health difficulties, anxious kids, aggressive kids," University of Michigan School of Social Work's Andrew Grogan-Kaylor said about the research on spanking that was published in the Journal of Family Psychology.
Corporal punishment also lowers the self-esteem of children and stimulates anger. Since "violence begets violence," physical discipline only teaches kids that violence is an acceptable solution for solving problems.
The Effects Of Disciplinary Choices On Parents And The Society
It's already a known fact that what parents do or behave can affect their children's behavior and cognitive abilities. Parental disciplinary choices also echo stress, familial status as well as the emotional and personal challenges faced by the parents and children daily but these choices like corporal punishment also have some negative effects on parents and the society.
On parents, corporal punishment triggers feelings of anxiety and guilt. It also increases violence and damages the relationship between parents and their children.
As for the society, corporal punishment promotes a double standard where there are only two categories of citizens - the adults and the children. For more comprehensive details on the effects of corporal punishment, check out UNICEF's "Educate, Don't Punish!" manual.
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