McKennaMiller

EN1010
Period3B

StrongResponseEssay:IsSpankingAbuse?AResponsetoLeonardPitts

People,adultsandchildrenalike,areabusedeveryday.Manyendureharsh
punishmentslikeblowstotheheadorworse.Often,parentsspanktheirchildrenwhen
theymisbehave.Isthisconsideredabuse?Isspankinganappropriateformofcorporal
punishment,orisitjustwrong?
Columnist,LeonardPitts,Jr.answeredthesequestionsinhisarticleSparethe
Rod,SpoiltheParenting,publishedintheMiamiHeraldinSeptember2001.Pitts
arguesthatcorporalpunishment,suchasspanking,isnotabuse,butmaybeabuseifit
isntused.Pittsexaminesthreemainreasonsthatspankingisagoodpractice.First,he
claimsthatspankingwillnotscarachildorgiveachildmentalinstabilityinthefuture.
Hedoesmentionthatoveruseofcorporalpunishmentandharshpunishmentsare
abuse,however.Second,hearguesthattheorthodoxythatallcorporalpunishmentis
abuseiswrong,eventhoughweveallboughtintoit.Third,hebelievesthatspanking
putstheparentsincharge,astheyshouldbe.Headdsthattheproblemisntwhetheror
notitisokaytospank,butrather,Whosinchargehere?(17)Pittsconcludesthat
childrenarebecomingmoreandmorespoiledandarebeingallowedtotakecontrol
becausetheyarenotbeingdisciplinedformisbehavior.Heconsidersourkidstodayto
bespoiled(1)andbrats(16).Hebelievesthatallchildrenshouldberearedthrough
milddisciplineandlove.Inhisfinalstatement,hesuggeststhatalthoughsomesee
spankingasabuse,itisnot,andtheabsenceofthisdisciplinecanbeabuse.Although
Pittsanalysisofspankingisrelevant,heoverlookstheothersideoftheargumentand

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failstomentionthatthereareothersformsofcorporalpunishmentthatcanbejustas
effectiveasspankingandthatsometimeschildrenaretoolittletounderstandthatthey
havedonesomethingwrongandtheydonotdeserveapunishment.
IcanagreewithsomeofPittspoints.Iagreethatgivingachildaspankingdoes
notleaveachildscarredforlife.Inmyexperienceasachild,whenImisbehaved,Iwas
punished,usuallyintheformofaspank.Sureithurtforaminute,butIamperfectlyfine
nowandIstillhaveagreatrelationshipwithmyparents.Ialsoagreethatitisridiculous
tocompareachildwhohasbeenspankedtoachildwhohasbeenstomped,scalded,
orpunched(12)andcallbothchildrenequallyabused.Peopleshouldstopworrying
aboutchildrenwhogetmildcorporalpunishmentandstarttakingactionagainstthereal
abuseintheworld.Finally,Iagreethathavingtonegotiatewithchildrenisatoughtask
toundertake,andmuchofthetimeitleadstothechildbeingstubbornorspoiled.Asa
child,IlearnedquicklythatifIdidntdowhatIwastold,Icouldntweaselmywayoutof
it.Myparentssetthestandard,andifIwantedsomething,Iwouldhavetosticktothat
standardIwouldntberewardedformisbehaving.
Pitts,jumpingheadfirstintothiscontroversy,alsoalertsparentsthattheirkidsare
spoiled,eventhoughheusesthispointmostlyforcontext.Inthiscolumn,Pittspurpose
ittoarguethatspankingisamildformofcorporalpunishmentthat,ifusedcorrectly,will
helpdisciplinethechildandkeeptheparentsincharge.Hesaysthatifachildisnot
spanked,thechildisbeingabused.However,thisperspectiveisverylimitedbecause
notallchildrenwhoarentspankedbecomebrats.Pittsassumesthatallchildrenwill

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takeoverandparentswontberespectedifachildisntspanked,butthereisnowayto
provethatistrue.
Alongwiththeseassumptions,Pittsalsoacknowledgesacontroversialstudyby
Dr.DianaBaumrind,aUniversityofCaliforniapsychologist.Thestudy,helater
mentions,isagainstspanking.Insteadofusingthisstudyasarebuttalortoshowthe
othersideoftheargument,hepicksandchoosespartsofthestudytosharetohis
advantage.Itisaverysmartthingtodo,however,itreallywouldhavehelpedhis
argumentifhewouldhaveexpandedonwhyBaumrindopposesspanking.Pittsonly
arguesforhisside,anditleavesthereaderwonderingwhyhenevermentionstheother
side.
IncontrasttoPitts,Ibelievethatthereareotherformsofpunishmenttobeused
onachildthatdonotinvolvephysicallyhurtingthechild.Anexamplecouldbe
timeouts,whereachildisforcedtothinkaboutwhywhattheydidiswrong,whichis
highlyeffectiveinhelpingthechildlearnfromtheirmistakes.Anotherexamplecouldbe
grounding.Thisisespeciallyhelpfulforolderchildrenbecausetheylearnthehardway
nottodisobeybygettingtoysorprivilegestakenawayfromthem.Ihaveexperienced
bothoftheseformsofpunishmentandtheyhavetaughtmetobehavejustaswellas
spankinghas.Also,Pittshasverylittlefactsinhisessay.FromwhatIcantell,heonly
mentionsonefactandhereliesonthatsinglestatisticalonetoholduphisargument.It
doesnotseemverystrong.IfIwerehim,Iwouldaddthestatisticthataccordingtoa
nationallyrepresentedsurvey,76%ofmalesand65%ofwomen,ages1865,agree

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thatchildrensometimesneedagood,hardspanking.Morestatisticsandfactswould
havestrengthenedhisessay.
Furthermore,Pittsnevermentionsanythingabouttheagespankingis
appropriateforchildren.Littlechildren,aroundages13,haveahardtimerealizingthat
theyaremisbehaving.Theydothingsbecauseitlooksfunorcool,andtheydont
understandthatwhattheyaredoingcouldbebad.Ithinkthatyoungchildrenshouldnot
bespankedbecausetheydontfullyunderstandwhytheyarebeingpunished.
Additionally,Pittsneverbringsuptheargumentthatkidslearnwhattheirparentsteach
them.Howisachildsupposedtolearnnottohurtsomeoneiftheparentspanksthem
fordoingso?Itmustbeveryconfusingforayoungchild.
Inconclusion,Pittsessayisimportantbecauseitexaminesthecontroversyof
spanking.Itexplainsthatkidsarespoiledbecauseofthelackofspanking,andthatfor
parentstostayincharge,childrenneeddiscipline.Iagreewithhimthatchildrennever
learniftheyarentpunished,buthisargumentlacksdepthandsolidity.Heonlyskims
thesurfacebecausePittsfocusesonlyonhissideoftheargumentandheonlyhasone
facttobackhimup.Hedoesntexploretheideathatthereareotherformsofcorporal
punishmentorthatyoungchildrenmaynotknowthattheyaremisbehaving.Pittsmakes
goodpoints,buttheyareverylimited.