Can slapping and beating bring discipline to the child? Why do parents choose physical punishments?
Remember Ronit Roy of Udaan or Ishaan’s Dad in Taare Zameen Par. Both are the parents who like discipline, who want their child to walk and talk and write and sleep on time and with absolute perfection. The parent who wants the child to be good at studies, speaks with utter decency, and performs the best at everything. And while their idea of raising a perfect child is a bit unrealistic, their want of keeping the child in discipline is quite genuine. Yet whatever it is, can physical punishment be the right alternative to maintain discipline? Hence we question, why do parents choose physical punishment to maintain discipline in their child?
“It is often like we need the child to have some fear, some fear of authority. We want them to have a sense of repercussion of doing anything wrong. And that’s why parents choose physical punishments. The fear of getting physically hurt will keep their fears high when they do anything wrong is what the parents generally think.” – Prerna, mother of a 9-year-old.
Well, parents generally want to have some sense of authority over the child. Yet, is a physical punishment right? And before moving forward to why do parents choose physical punishment, let’s discuss what physical punishments could do to a child.
What physical punishment could do to a child?
A The Lancet Study’s report suggests Physical punishment doesn’t improve children’s behaviour and instead, it makes them worse. In the study, it was clearly identified that physical punishment has no beneficial effects on the child. Instead, it can increase the child’s feeling of experiencing exhaustion, the suffering of violence, and neglect. It can increase behavioral difficulties and strengthens the feeling of fear in the child. Physical punishments can develop a sense of low self-esteem, aggression, and antisocial behavior in the child. And of course, it will distance the child from the parent as more so obviously, loving someone who is violent to you is actually difficult.
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Not ignoring the fact that when a parent chooses physical punishment, they are opening the scope for their child having chronic physical injuries. The anger that the parents subjugate the child thinking as something that could insight fear can be long-term physical harm for them.
Physical punishment is employed by parents and guardians in many regions of the world as a response to children’s perceived misbehaviour, according to the research. 63 percent of youngsters between the ages of 2 and 4 — almost 250 million children — are exposed to physical punishment on a daily basis by their caretakers.
Why do parents choose physical punishment?
Many parents utilize physical punishment because they believe it helps from a cognitive standpoint. Parents witness the kid’s short-term reaction—the youngster gets angry and quits acting out—and believe that it is a successful teaching technique. Parents also feel that the punishment encourages successful child socialization by teaching the child not to do certain things.
For many, punishment mimics aggressiveness. Despite the fact that many parents believe in physical punishment as a means to an end, they are usually anxious, upset, or furious when they employ it.
Many parents just find punishing as the right method, or a cultural method. They see it like, since they were beaten when they were a kid, that is how it is done. Since they used to be in fear of their parents, so is their child supposed to be.
Is physical punishment legal?
While corporal punishment is prohibited in schools (by Section 17 of the RTE Act, 2009), there are currently no laws prohibiting parents from physically abusing their children, however, there are laws against assault and cruelty to minors.
And while everything stays aside, what should be noted is, “Kids are not taught right from wrong by hitting them… “Children do not require suffering to learn.” Because “physical punishment is not effective to persuade youngsters to obey,” parents believe they must continue to escalate the punishment. That’s why it’s so dangerous,” Gershoff said in 2012.
