Spanking children has been a parenting practice in effect for a very long time. In fact, it’s difficult to remember a time when children were not punished for what parents consider to be bad behavior. While spanking may be considered a way to discipline children, there are a plethora of harmful effects that arise from the practice. The harmful side effects resulting from physical punishment include violence, the infliction of emotional stress and miscommunication or misunderstanding. Primarily, violence is one of the most detrimental effects resulting from spanking as spanking encourages children to commit bad acts upon their parents. Instead of resorting to physical punishment, parents should attempt to understand why their children are acting out instead of rashly spanking them. If they are continuously punished, children will tend to hate their parents and other authoritative figures, like teachers, as well. Additionally, punishment like spanking may lead to the child to being emotionally stressed. Thirdly, misinterpretation is likely to occur with the spanking of kids. The children could build up bad ideas and mental …show more content…
American Academy of Pediatrics, an agency dedicated to the health of all children, provides an informative article regarding corporal punishment. One article in particular that caught my attention is entitled "The Pediatrician and Corporal Punishment,” by Morris A. Wessel. Wessel states, "The ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ philosophy is deeply ingrained in American child rearing. This allows–indeed encourages–many parents and other adults caring for children to spank or hit with the hand, belt, or paddle, or to force a child to stand for long periods of time or to institute other immoderate measures when disciplining seems to be necessary." “Spare the rod and spoil the child” has been taken to an all new level; child abuse has increased to an all new high as many children are dying at the hands of their caregiver or adult in charge of