Blake Moss
Abuse Versus Discipline
A mother spanks her child in a public parking lot. While a nearby citizen watches in horror and begins to dial 911. Is this wrong? Does the mother have authority to do this to her own child? Who gets to decide how the mother disciplines her child? Why here?
These are the questions that come across the mind of today's society. Most people would agree that the child did something “wrong,” but opinion collide on how the mother should discipline the child. Parents from generations ago would not have thought twice about this incident. In today's era, as technology has progressed so has the ideas of child abuse and discipline. What is the difference between child abuse vs. child discipline?
Then Versus Now
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Who gets to make these interpretations? Is it the caretaker or parents or the child or is it the state? Discipline by Definition
Discipline is “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.” A question that comes to mine is; who gets define the amount of “punishment?” And who gets to decide the rules and code of behavior? Is it the parents or guardians, or is it the governmental agencies? If a child is doing something wrong and the parent chooses to “swat” the child then they are violating the law because they are inflicting “physical injury inflicted on the child.” Is this wrong or is it right?
Christian's Opinion
Proverbs 23:13-15 says “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.” This is not saying to beat until the child can not stand it is saying that if a parent uses physical discipline they will not die. “Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.” This quote comes from Proverbs 19:18.
So what is Christian's view on discipline? It is okay to use physical and mental discipline. God elaborates throughout his holy book that He not only believes in physical discipline, but recommends it. He states this multiple times in the bible and shows many examples of it. He
In modern society, physical discipline is still considered a somewhat suitable way of teaching children how to behave in life, though it is decreasing in popularity as time goes on. When using physical discipline, the parent should never have the intention of causing harm, they should always have the intention of being constructive. Whether or not physical discipline results in a beneficial outcome is dependent upon how it is used. If it is the only, or primary, source of discipline, the outcome is generally unfavorable. Also, as said in an article by Larzelere and Kuhn, if the discipline is too violent, and results in the child becoming injured, the child is not going to retain the intended lesson (1). An example of non-abusive physical discipline is conditional spanking. Conditional spanking "is defined as about two open-hand swats to the buttocks when a parent is not angrily out of control" (Larzelere, Kuhn 1). This type of punishment "teaches a child to cooperate with the milder disciplinary tactic, thereby making spanking less necessary in the future" (Larzelere, Kuhn 1) . When parents decide to use physical discipline, the primary intention of the parent should always be that the punishment is being "used in such a way that [it] reduces the need to use it in the future" (Larzelere, Kuhn 1). A parent should never hit a child
Discipline is important in most aspects of line, discipline is the practice of training people to obey rules and regulations, whilst using appropriate punishment to correct mistakes and disobedience. We use discipline to keep social and working order so that there are no complications. Discipline teaches people correct ways to act so that goals are reached and encourage people to accept responsibility in life. Discipline is not to get mixed up with punishment. Punishment is the consequence of not following rules and regulations.
Do you know the difference between child abuse and discipline? Child Abuse is when someone physically and mentally hurts another person. Discipline is teaching someone or something to do the right thing. Child Abuse is very common in the United States. Many children suffer from bruising, swelling skin, and broken bones. Situations like this happen because of problems at home or personal problems. Parents at home abuse their children because of drinking and depression issues. In this crazy world, there are numerous types of abuses. There is sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and emotional or psychological abuse. Sexual abuse is an intentional incident that involves sexual relationship to a child using all their power and taking advantage of them. According to Family & Community Services, Physical abuse is a nonstop injury that happens more than one time. Neglect is a type of abuse you just don’t care or pay no attention to your child. Emotional or psychological harm is when you make your children think something that isn’t true. Discipline children usually do the things their parents or guardian tell them what to do because they teach them to pay attention and be polite.
Corporal punishment which disciplines wrong behavior should not be considered child abuse because it is beneficial to the child.That is, it teaches children the necessary knowledge of what behavior is wrong. Without this knowledge, children will believe that simple sins such as lying, stealing, and cheating are acceptable. Consequently, they will be unable to function normally in society. Corporal punishment has been found to be the most effective method of teaching children the knowledge of what behaviors are wrong. In the article “Smacked Children More Successful Later in Life” by Murray Wardrop, the spokeswoman for the child advocacy organization Parents Outloud, Margaret
When it comes to discipline, people will either agree that discipline is a crucial way for a child to learn the rules and gain values, or that discipline is abuse. Discipline is a parental response to a certain action that has been taken upon by their child. If a child is expected to do
Have you ever saw someone hit their child and thought to yourself was that abuse or discipline? Many people understand that punishment and abuse are different, but they don’t know what should or shouldn’t be considered abuse. Theres a big debate on if spanking should be considered punishment or child abuse. Studies have always shown that most abuse goes unreported. There is a point where discipline becomes abuse and that’s when discipline is unfair, anger driven, and inconsistent.
“A Midland mother is demanding justice after her child was allegedly slapped in the face. The report of child abuse was filed in June, a week after Tyverious Mackey’s birthday.” In any case anger should never result to violence (Williams). Even though kids should be disciplined but not to the point of beating them, discipline such as spanking is a must because punishing them will make them a better person and teaches kids that the adults are in control.
What does the word child abuse mean in your own words? Some people believe child abuse includes neglect, punishment, physical or emotional maltreatment. Child abuse is all over the world. Every day a child is either abused or neglected. Since the late 1900’s child abuse was commonly used in the United States (Gale). Now it is slowly coming to its ending point. Since 1992, only two states, Delaware and Oklahoma, have experienced consistent increases today. Is discipline considered Child Abuse?
As a Christian, I believe that research and the Bible support an authoritative approach to parenting. This method creates an optimal environment for mental health and also allows for adapting to a particular child’s needs. Impulsive children may necessitate stricter standards while shy children might require extra reassurance. The use of discipline is for training, not punishment. Although consequences may be necessary, teaching and instruction are the primary purposes. Above all, discipline should be done in love.
Is disciplining children consider abuse? Throughout the years many people have asked that question. According to the Oxford Dictionary, discipline is considered as “The practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience”. On the other hand, abuse is considered “to treat in a harmful, injurious, or offensive way”. But do both tie in together?
Many people today are getting arrested for simply disciplining a child. But, in older times disciplining a child set good moral standards and taught that child on what that child was supposed to do and what not to do. There is a fine line between abuse and discipline. So what is child abuse? Child abuse consists of any act of commission or omission that endangers or impairs a child’s physical or emotional health and development. Child abuse includes any damage done to a child which cannot be reasonably explained and which is often represented by an injury or series of injuries appearing to be non-accidental in nature. There are also different kinds of child abuse; which include physical, emotional, and sexual. But, discipline does not
In today's society people make it very clear about their opinion when it comes to discipline a child. Most but not every parent believes that every form of child discipline is considered child abuse. When in fact traditional acts of discipline are more of a teaching lesion rather than straight child abuse. What people are not aware of is that not every style of discipline works with every child. Some children listen and/or even learn better with specific punishments.
Discipline is one of the basic things a child learns from his parents before he or she faces the outside world to learn more about life as a whole. Teaching this trait can depend on how the parent shows it to their child and how they explain the importance of having this trait both in and out of their homes. Misbehaving children cannot be avoided as they are curious little beings and they have a tendency to explore. But there are some parents, even teachers, who do not tolerate misbehaving and they resort to corporal punishments such as spanking to make sure the child never forgets how painful it is to misbehave as they will remember the punishment entailed to it and become more disciplined. However, not all children would understand the
Children are like flowers, if well taken care of they will bloom. If ignored or tortured, they will wither and die. Child discipline is one of the most important elements of successful parenting. Today, many people have this notion that physical abuse is in no way a solution to helping children discern between right and wrong. Since generations children have been taught the art of discipline through physical punishment. Often this approach to disciplining has resulted in two outcomes, one is where the child becomes more tolerant and is willing to adhere to what he/she has been told, or the other which more often results in children developing a sense of anguish and desire to revolt.
Discipline is very important in our daily life. We have to follow lots of rule every single day. Once we don't keep in a right