Corporal Punishment Is Detrimental For Childrens Growth

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            Corporal punishment can be referred to as the act of inflicting physical pain to students in response to misbehaviors or wrongdoing by the students. It could be through the use of a cane, wooden paddle or yard stick or even a slipper at the buttocks or hand of the particular students. In most countries globally, the use of corporal punishment has been considered to be against the law, while some were proposing the proper use of corporal punishment in our schools, and termed as an unusual and cruel way of punishing the students. However, the matter has been contested by various key actors in the education sectors globally. Currently, there are two different schools of thought regarding the use of corporal punishment in school, who share completely divergent opinions on the use of corporal punishment.


            The first school of thought argues that the use of corporal punishment in school is mean and brutal. They argue encourage that ensuring alternative forms of punishment and continually guiding and counseling sessions for the students would work better than the use of corporal punishment. On the other hand, the proposing school of thought argues that the withdrawal of corporal punishment in school has contributed greatly to the rising indiscipline levels in school. The proposing school of thought states that the teachers struggle so much to scold their respective students since the current ways of punishments have no power to intimidate the students. According to the proposing school of thought, the teachers are then left with no powers to prevent bad behaviors.


            Both schools of thought arguments are based on the level of use of corporal punishment in school. Both agree that “appropriate use” of the punishment would be effective. Surprisingly, they both cannot clearly define exactly what “appropriate use” would be, making it hard to reach a consensus on the matter. It has been noted that the “appropriate” of the “correct” use of corporal is a matter that has never been resolved and will not be resolved soon since there are no standard measures or ways of determining what “appropriate use” or “correct use” would be. The two words are relative and could be interpreted differently especially when no numerical values are involved like in this case (Gershoff, et.al., 2015, pg 87 - 98).


            As discussed earlier, clear definition of what “proper use” of corporal punishment is not easy. For a child to enjoy optimum development they must be continually guided through their activities, with a touch of love. Constant guidance and counseling is essential for children development as it give them the mental capacity to make justifiable decisions (Taylor, Cathy A.APHA, 2014).


            The debates about proper use of corporal punishment stemmed from the way back incident that occurred in Minnesota Vikings. Adrian Peterson was reported to have hit his child who was then 4 years old using a tree branch, and the accusations labeled against him later that he injured another 4 year old boy. Since these incidences, the use of physical punishment and its acceptability has been a public topic of global discussions. The debates have been characterized by varying feelings towards the incidence some defending Adrian's action while others condemning his actions. Celebrities including some athletes defended Adrian explaining that they were “spanked” and ended up okay. Some support “spanking” but acknowledges that Adrian's behavior was a case of an abuse.


            A study by the Huffington Post revealed that most adults (81% of the total polled- 1000) believed that “spanking” using a hand should be legalized, half of the adults further believe that “spanking” is an effective way of punishment. Certainly, the views of the respondents on the lawfulness of “spanking” was majorly dependent on whether the respondent's parent applied corporal punishment. Most of the respondents (88%) who were punished corporally assented to the use of corporal punishment. Adrian explains his behavior as acceptable, saying that his success is directly related to how his parents instilled discipline in him.


            On the contrary, there is engulfing evidence that the use of corporal punishment is  ineffective and equally poses a great harm to the child development. Lisa Belkin, a former senior columnist with Huffpost, says that there is an overbalance of facts and the debate has not been sufficiently given the two sides. He further stated that the science against “spanking” is obviously one sided and there should be no debate about the subject. Several research have been done on the topic. Elizabeth Thompson Gershof, a psychologists analyzed over 80 studies and found a firm correlation between  negative behavior and corporal punishment – including rising antisocial behavior and aggression.


            Corporal punishment increases children aggression. When “spanked,” kids are likely to be more aggressive than those who are not. When children are subjected to spanking at the age of 3, they will develop an aggressive attitude by the age of 5 years as compared to children who are not. Children who are spanked develop an attitude towards the behavior and the person or teacher punishing them. Through inflicting pain, the tend to be defensive and the more the pain is inflicted the more the attitude is developed.


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