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Physical Punishment for Children?
Physical Punishment for Children
Time to Change our Minds!
There have been big changes in the attitudes of most parents over the last
few years. Very few parents would agree with using force regularly as a way of
dealing with discipline problems in their children. Physical punishment is
banned in schools in most countries, and in many countries, there are moves to
ban all corporal punishment of children even in the home. However, many parents
still believe that they have a right to use some physical punishment to deal
with certain misbehaviors at certain ages. This essay will ask if some physical
punishment is acceptable today, and will ask how parents can know what the
limits are.
It is easy to find reasons to allow some physical punishment. One issue is
that many parents find it very difficult to abandon physical punishment
completely. Parents argue that this was the way they were brought up themselves
and that it didn’t do any harm to them. They believe that for the child’s sake
that they have the right to discipline the child in any way they see fit,
including using corporal punishment. A second point is that corporal punishment
can be quick and effective: there is not much point reasoning with a screaming
child in the supermarket. Finally, most parents are reasonable and fair, and
very very few would ever consider hurting their children by using unnecessary
physical force.
There are several reasons however why we should stop using physical
punishment even in the home. One point is that most parents are not trained to
deal with misbehaving children. They do not have enough resources or choices to
handle the situation. As a result, they immediately react by smacking or hitting
the child, even if there are other solutions to the problem. Another point is
that unless people are challenged or forced to change their beliefs they may
keep following negative habits. An example is seatbelt use - now most people
wear seat belts without thinking, whereas years ago the idea of using safety
belts was strange to most people. In the same way, banning physical punishment
in the home will allow people to change their habits and break a cycle of
violence. However, the most obvious reason for banning all physical punishment
of children is to prevent child abuse. If all parents are allowed to hit their
children in the name of discipline, some parents will go too far and will
inflict severe emotional and physical damage on their children. It may only be a
smll minority of parents, but we need to protect all our children.
In conclusion, parents have to change some of their beliefs and ideas about
how children should be raised. It is possible to avoid the use of physical force
in the home, and doing so will help us move closer to dream of removing violence
from our society.
474! Much too long! You only have one hour! But there is no penalty in IELTS
for writing over 250 words in Task 2 - if you can do it!
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