Josh's+Mosaic

Corporal Punishment
"Even minimal amounts of spanking can lead to an increased likelihood in antisocial behavior by children," writes Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, a professor of social work from the University of Michigan. Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to discipline or reform a wrongdoer or change a person's behavior. Corporal punishment is a cruel, brutal way of punishing a child. My own life, Dahl's book, and today's schools offer clear examples of why corporal punishment is not in a child's best interests.

Fortunately for me, I have not been exposed to corporal punishment. Although I have not been physically punished, I have witnessed others being beaten in public. One memory that stays with me quite vividly occurred when I was at Saxby's coffee with my parents and sister and there was a toddler hysterically crying. The mother kept trying to shush him but he just would not stop. After awhile, the mother grabbed her son and started violently shaking him, tightly holding onto his arm. It really made me think about what it is like for kids to expedience violence at that age. After that, she picked him up and walked out. In my opinion, no one deserves corporal punishment. When I read Roald Dahl in eighth grade, it made me think back upon the girl using corporal punishment to discipline her toddler.

Roald Dahl had a fair amount of corporal punishment, although I am sure that corporal punishment was more common back when he was a child. One period of his life when he was more exposed to that type of punishment was when he was shipped off to Repton, the all boys boarding school. There were older kids called boazers, and they could summon the the younger kids at their will. The younger kids had to perform various tasks. The boazers could thrash them for the slightest slip up. Another time that Roald Dahl was punished with this cruel method happened at the Llandalf Cathedral School. Dahl had put a mouse in one of the candy jars at the sweet shop and the news made it back to the school. Roald and his friends were beaten with the cane. Roald Dahl had a lot to deal with being exposed to so much corporal punishment.

Corporal punishment is illegal in 23 states, including most juvenile correction facilities. According to research, corporal punishment is most common in kids with disabilities or disorders such as autism, or Tourettes. The total number of students who experienced corporal punishment in the 2006 - 2007 school year was 223,190. Research dictates that schools that still use corporal punishment as a way to discipline children is because they lack the resources and training for alternative methods. Also, it is cost effective because it is free. Despite that corporal punishment is cost effective, I still do not believe in it.

Corporal punishment is used in many books as an example of hardship in childhood, and it is known that mothers and fathers use it as a a way to discipline children. Often children with disabilities are abused with corporal punishment because they cannot control what they say, how they act, or their physical behavior. Many teachers need a better education and understanding about disciplining children. Just because corporal punishment is a simple solution, does not mean it should not be used. 

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