Smacking essay

My name is Micheal and today am here to talk to you about the issue of smacking. To strike or slap someone with force using the open hand is the definition of smacking. The issue of whether it should be legal for parents to smack their children has now become a major controversy. Today I come to you as a concerned citizen as I find it utterly disturbing that in Australia, it is currently legal for parents to smack their children.

I believe that the act of parents, smacking their child should be illegal. Smacking children, in our modern society, is nothing but an ineffective form of discipline. It is actually a violation of the human rights of the child. Furthermore it has potential to cause intellectual and physiological harm towards the child.

My first argument towards making smacking illegal is the fact that smacking is simply not an effective form of punishment. Many parents see smacking as the only method to convey there message and discipline. But the reality is that after recent research in the United States, it has been proven that smacking actually increases behaviour problems of children in the age group of 5 to 8 across all backgrounds. In no way does corporal punishment reduce aggression or other behaviour problems such as anti social behaviour. In fact further research has shown that smacking encourages children to be aggressive . It leads them to see that violence is the solution to ones problems and it is okay to hit others.

Bullying behaviour can also develop in the child because of the children’s exposure to violence . Furthermore, smacking does not educate a child about appropriate behaviour. Because of the fear of getting smacked, a child will find ways to hide their behaviour instead of actually change it. Children can become secretive, blame their problem on others or even lie because of the fear of getting smacked. My second argument is that smacking is the violation of the human rights of the child. Children have the right to not be physically abused by anyone. No section of Australian society, other than children, can have violence inflicted upon them. It is illegal for women to be assaulted, yet it is legal for parents to smack children.

It is disturbing to see that children are the only category in Australia that can be legally assaulted. Just as all other categories have the right to not be assaulted, so should the children. The United Nations convention has stressed it duty to to give children this right to be free from all forms of violence, including cruel punishment. All children deserve to have human dignity and physical integrity. By smacking, we are violating this. My final argument towards making smacking illegal is the risk of long-term phycological harm.

In 2011, research was conducted to test the effects of smacking. Children who were exposed in an environment where they were smacked achieved low scores in psychological assessments including planning, abstract thinking and levels of satisfaction. The scores achieved by these children were significantly lower than the scores achieved by students who were exposed to environments where they were not smacked. The results of this research proved that aggressive environments may have a impact on a child’s verbal intelligence. The result of this is that children who are smacked are at high risk of behavioural problems.

On top of this, further research has also shown that children who have been smacked in their childhood, have lower IQs. Professor Mark Strauss conducted research that proved that children who were spanked, had a lower IQ than children who were not. After testing hundreds of young kids from several age groups, it was evident that IQs of children were reduced up to 5 points after four years of getting smacked. This shows how horrendous the consequences of smacking can be and what they can really lead to. Some people may argue that smacking is the most effective form of discipline.

Smacking can be seen as the most appropriate form of discipline in many cases. But the reality is, that smacking distracts the child from the real goal, which is stopping the bad behaviour. parents may see that by smacking their child, they have stopped the bad behaviour. But, actually the child will focus on the punishment instead of the actual behaviour. This means that they will continue the bad behaviour as they don’t consider it bad. By using other forms of discipline, the child will focus on the behaviour and realise what they are doing wrong. In essence, it is evident that the act of parents smacking their children should be illegal.

It is causing the children of Australia far too much harm. It is an ineffective form of discipline which increases violence and aggression within the child. It is also A violation of the rights that all children should have. And on top this, it causes terrible problems in the long term development of the child. I hope that one day that it will be illegal for parents to smack their child.