Friday, March 8, 2013

Chelsea Green-Issue of Spanking in Mainstream Media


In September of 2012, a law was passed in Delaware to ban parents from spanking children. Any physical “harm” done to children under the age of 18 will be classified as a class A misdemeanor and will be punished with one year in prison. This law startled me and sparked my interest. I believe that this law is over the top and takes away from the authority of people over the household. There is a difference between beating and spanking, and simply spanking as a mean of obtaining correct behavior should be justified. This issue is relatively recent because it only came into effect last year. The government should step back and allow guardians to run the household as they see fit, as long as the way in which it is ran isn’t harmful to the child.
There is a clear “anti-spanking” side and a “pro-spanking” side in the views of this issue. Most people who are against spanking are concerned with how the child is affected psychologically and the strain that could be caused between child and guardian. Most avid supporters of spanking agree with it because of the behavioral changes that it makes and it helps to establish authority in their households.
The common misinterpretation behind spanking is that it is abuse. Spanking is not abuse; it is just a mechanism used to establish authority and to receive a certain behavior from children. If there is no authority established, children may become unruly and run over parents. Spanking is in fact just “tough love” and many children thank their parents for putting them in line and go on to spank their own children. My essay will clarify misconceptions and give relevant information on why spanking shouldn’t be outlawed. I will give a social, cultural and psychological view behind spanking and hopefully some people to agree with my views.

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