Ineffectiveness Of Corporal Punishment
1655 Words7 Pages
The Ineffectiveness of Corporal Punishment
Corporal punishment should be banned from use in schools. To better understand why, we must first understand what we mean by corporal punishment. According to Lenta, “corporal punishment is the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury for the purpose of correction or control of the child’s behavior” (2012, p 693). Additionally an understanding of what discipline is will give a better understanding of this topic. Discipline, as described by Smith, “involves the teaching of children the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in society” (2006, p 115). This paper seeks to analyze the effects that corporal punishment has on children.
Corporal punishment is preferred to other forms of punishment due to its unpleasantness. Benatar in his paper discusses how other forms of punishment like community service would build a resistance towards these practices and later on consider these practices as a form of punishment (1998). On the contrary, punishment like community service teaches the culprit to understand the impact that his or her actions has on the community. In light of this, the lesson that is gained from this form of punishment is invaluable as it does not only serve as a punishment, but the recipient gains a better understanding of the way society works. Referring back to the core aim of discipline as described by Anne B. Smith, in this situation the use of