Should spanking young children be considered a form of child abuse Essay

Should spanking young children be considered a form of child abuse - Essay Example The grey area involved in spanking comes into play when deciding at what point spanking is actually no longer spanking but hitting or beating. Also, at what point is a spanking deemed necessary and appropriate. Statistically speaking, â€Å"more than 4 out of 5 American adults, who were spanked as children, felt that it was an effective form of discipline. (Spare the Rod, 2008) This statistic however, leaves room for the one out of five who felt that spanking was not effective or that it was a form of abuse. Many parents feel that the only affective means of discipline is in fact, spanking. Essentially, spanking is a physical way to let the child know that their actions are not acceptable. Children rely on their parents for protection, comfort, love and basic needs. When a child is being corrected by a parent and is then spanked, the level of praise or acceptance a child normally feels is diminished and there is then a threat of losing the acceptance that the child felt before the punishment. Still other parents and many experts are overtly opposed to spankings as they feel that any type of physical punishment is abusive. Certainly, a fine line exists between an appropriate disciplinary spanking and abuse, but a good parent can make that distinction. Many critics feel that spanking leads to adult dysfunction, but are unable to distinguish between appropriate and controlled spanking as loving discipline as opposed to hitting or punishing out of anger. It can be said that punishment of any form out of anger is in fact, abuse as opposed to discipline, which should be done out of love. It has been argued by some within many faiths, that parents that do not use spanking as a form or correction are doing a disservice to their children and to God. According to Christians, God’s law prescribes that corporal punishment is the appropriate form of punishment that parents should use. Many Christians feel that they