Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Raising children to be socially competent, emotionally and physically stable, and positive contributors of our society is a huge task. This multifaceted undertaking is the most important job parents will do in their lifetimes. However, there is much controversy on how you raise competent children to become productive citizens. We all know that children need limits and boundaries. This helps children learn acceptable and appropriate behavior as well as keep them safe. The ongoing argument is what to do when children test those limits and overstep the boundaries that have been laid out for them. Many parents use spanking as a method of punishment when children have misbehaved and “nothing else seems to work”. However there is a significant difference between punishment and discipline. Punishment is defined as a “verb meaning to inflict a penalty on”. Discipline is a noun defined as “mental and moral training”. It is clear that there is a big difference between punishing and disciplining children. Punishment is not the most effective method of training children. Webster’s defines “spanking” as: “to hit on the buttocks with a flat object or with the open hand as punishment”. To “hit” is defined