With the parents, teachers, and scholars harping on the negatives of corporal punishment, various schools have already banned this archaic practice of imposing discipline on students. There is no denying the fact that arguments against corporal punishment rule the roost in the ongoing debates. Most of the published articles and available literature endorse a positive connection between corporal punishment and aggression and antagonism among children. Nonetheless, my perception is a bit different. I favor this age-old practice for its efficacy, and a deeper analysis of some of the studies does support my understanding.
A large-scale meta-analysis conducted in 2002 at the Columbia University revealed that the most positive trait of corporal punishment is the immediate compliance on the part of children. Though this was the single positive result with other ten negative associations, it duly proved the efficacy of corporal punishment in cases when children were too stubborn to listen to their parents and teachers. Kids, nowadays, are confident enough to disobey their elders. Furthermore, they have a good exposure that, at times, distorts their sense of discipline. This form of punishment, thus, is suitable to retain the importance of elders in children's minds.
Statistics further reveals that violence is on the rise as children are more exposed to television, social media, and other such means. Spending countless numbers of hours on MTV watching sensual and violent images spoil their minds and the way of thinking. Father figures are lacking in schools and homes; parents are more tolerant than ever; schools are preferring punishment-free ambiance thereby pepping up undesirable behavior among children.
These may be the reasons that all 50 US states currently allow "reasonable" corporal punishment at home and 19 among them allow it in private and public schools also. However, all States differentiate between reasonable punishment and physical abuse though legislatures have not clearly specified what transgresses the required reasonableness.
Despite myriad of views against it, the power of intimidation works and helps in maintaining the decorum in the classrooms. However, age matters and many states take age into consideration while allowing corporal punishment. Many laws prevail in several States that also conform to the age requirements. For instance, the law in Washington specifies that age, size, and condition of the child should be taken into account before spanking. Virginia Supreme Court also upheld that parents and teachers should have the right to administer timely and reasonable punishment as it is crucial to correct faults of the growing children. Taking a cue from such examples, I believe that spanking can be differentiated as per the different age-groups in schools.
While two swats on the buttocks of children between 2-5 years may impose a good discipline, kids between 6-13 years can be further treated with decent forms of punishment as "time out." Children, more than 13 years of age, should be better persuaded than punished corporally. Succinctly, I believe that 5-13 years is the right age group of imbibing a sense of morality, discipline understanding, and responsibility among children. Resorting to corporal punishment at the right time and in appropriate manners causes more good than harm. A poll conducted by Huffington Post revealed that around 81 percent of adults believed that hand spanking should be legalized and around 50 percent believed that it is an effective form of punishment.
The discipline and responsibility arguments also hold good in case of the military that requires a sense of respect and command on the part of solders. I believe that milder techniques as persuasion, coaching, and mentoring do not work in all circumstances in military positions. Especially when new recruits join the team, it becomes necessary to enforce discipline to help them come up to the requirements of the tough profiles. As such, corporal punishments becomes an imperative for anyone who denies adhering to the set standards or fails to come up to the expectations of seniors.
There is no denying the fact that military and navy have relied heavily on corporal form of punishment since historical times to keep the soldiers on track. Examples include the use of the cane for mistakes in drills, exposure to mockery be fellows, and severe other physical punishments for errors. Though there are some countries as Canada that have disallowed the corporal punishment in military, some nations still believe it to be efficacious in making soldiers perform better.
In my opinion, strict laws and punishments do make a positive impact in terms of adherence. It is imperative to consider the case of Islamic states where criminals and rapists are punished severely. As a result, these nations have low murder and rape rates than lenient nations, reports a recent study. Apparently, corporal punishment is required, to an extent, to maintain the social fabric of the states. However, this argument does not carry heft in the case of schools where kids are too young to be given harsh punishments. Still, instilling a sense of fear for wrongdoing can help them understand the importance of discipline and regulations; it can further assist them in growing up as responsible citizens of the nation.
Another notion confirms that schools would frequently resort to corporal punishment a decade back, and nothing bad happened as such. Contrarily, our elders would behave more responsibly than present day youths who do not understand the value of money and relationships. They neither fear their parents nor teachers. Examples are galore how students misbehave with their teachers and parents. Eat, drink, and be merry is the fundamental of their living that is likely to distort their higher educational and professional goals. I believe that corporal punishment can help them find out the differences between right and wrong - the essential to becoming a disciplined person in life.
Last but not the least, corporal punishment does not always equate to physical abuse as most of the people think. As stated, US states have already put forward the concept of reasonable punishment. Though state laws do not clearly define reasonableness, the common sense of the punishment-giver does plays a role in that. Obviously, beating a student to death cannot be justified. Likewise, inflicting a punishment that deteriorates his/her social and cognitive abilities is odious. As such, elders need to judge what forms of punishment they can best use considering the age and condition of children. Doing so can result in a win-win condition.
Works Cited
Collins, Kristin. The Age of Discipline: The Relevance of Age to The Reasonableness of Corporal Punishment. 2010. 20 April 2016 <http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1569&context=lcp>.
Crotty, James Marshall. Should Corporal Punishment Be Allowed In Schools? 21 September 2014. 20 April 2016 <http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2014/09/21/should-corporal-punishment-be-allowed-in-schools/#789c94474ba3>.
Greenfield, Daniel. Muslim Countries Have Low Murder Rates. 21 Jan 2016. 20 April 2016 <http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/261558/muslim-countries-have-low-murder-rates-study-says-daniel-greenfield>.
McGowan, Dale. "Is Corporal Punishment a Good Idea?" Insitute of Humanist Studies, 7 November 2007.
Samakow, Jessica. What Science Says About Using Physical Force to Punish a Child. 26 September 2014. 20 April 2016 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/adrian-peterson-corporal-punishment-science_n_5831962.html?section=india>.
