Muhammad Anwar.

English 1102
Professor Sarah Huges
4/21/15
Spanking seems like an easy solution to disciplining children, but the damage inflicted
upon the child isnt only the temporary physical pain, it also includes permanent
psychological side effects. [Spanking] teaches children that violence is O.K. When
children who were raised that way grow up, they often use violence themselves in the
way that they have learned (Meyers). Meyers talks about Adrian Petersons child abuse
charges and discusses whether or not spanking is just tradition or a manner of child
abuse. That isnt culture. Its a cycle of abuse. As a society, we still look the other way.
Were comfortable intervening when we see a woman being struck in public by her
husband, but not when a child is struck by a parent (Meyers). Meyers believes it
unethical for a full grown adult to be hitting an innocent, defenseless child because he/she
failed to comply with certain demands. Spanking creates a pile of deep psychological
issues while disguising itself as an easy fix to a misbehaving child. Spanking doesnt
solve any problems, it adds on to them.
Spanking supposedly teaches children how to respect their parents. It shows kids that
they must always be obedient and listen to their parents, unless they want to face the
consequences. I remember seeing one hapless father chasing after his son, trying to get
the boy to listen and pleading: "You need to respect me." The lad ignored him
(Navarette Jr.). Navarette argues that children cant learn to respect their parents if they
are not spanked and face consequence for exhibiting any sort of disrespect towards their
parents. While spanking may teach respect temporarily, it does not have any lasting
effect, children often grow up and turn out vengeful and full of hatred towards their

parents for the years of past abuse. This is not an effective way to teach children respect.
A much more effective way to teach children respect is by respecting the child and
avoiding insults and violent behavior towards them. Children can learn respect through
many different methods than spanking.
Spanking your child is considered acceptable in society today. Some deem it necessary,
and others see it as an excuse. This is a trend that has carried on for ages and adults who
have faced this abuse as kids, often tend to see it as acceptable behavior. I was molested
as a kid, and I turned out fine too, but that doesn't mean I think its okay to molest kids.
The fact that you survived abuse doesn't mean you should be allowed to inflict it on your
own kids (Robbins). Just because a certain individual experienced abuse a certain way
and believes they turned out fine, does not mean that their children, or anyones children,
will be affected by it the same way and turn out fine. Parents need to quit abusing their
authority and start finding better ways to raise their children. Using other forms of
discipline doesn't make kids soft, it makes parenting harder because you have to control
yourself in order to keep control of the situation and use other methods to discipline your
kids even though you want to hit them (Robbins). Humans can learn a lot more from
example than from commands. If parents show their child how to behave, instead
spanking them when they dont, they could have children that hold love and respect
towards their parents not only through their adolescence, but even up to adulthood.