Position Paper- Child Abuse and Discipline

PARENTAL DISCIPLINE AND ABUSE Parental discipline and child abuse are among the most controversial topics currently, and they cause serious problems for children in the United States. Child abuse essentially focuses on the child’s bad behaviors and gives the child emotional and physical harms. Forms of abuse include spanking, hitting, saying negative things and corporal punishment. In fact, parental discipline is a much more appropriate way of dealing with negative behavior than using abusive actions on the child. The line between parental discipline and child abuse is not clear. However, child abuse can be defined as people following the wrong policies to teach their children why their actions are not appropriate and the discipline puts a child at risk of harm or directly causes harm (Dugger). The main point of this ambiguity is related to following wrong or different policies on child-rearing. In this case, parents or others should choose appropriate policies to bring up children because our children are our future.
Parenting Styles Based on Parents’ Experiences Child rearing is a sensitive and complicated issue for parents, and creates many arguments about how to properly raise their children. As it is a sensitive and complicated issue, there are many variables for parenting styles or techniques, but all these styles are based on personal experiences from our childhood. Jennifer Kogan, a writer for Washington Post, supports this idea: “We bring our experiences from our first family, or our family of origin, into our current family”. These experiences usually create parents’ own styles to raise their children, and they can be shaped with negative or positive features. Kogan offers a perfect example about this issue: “If you grew up with an anxious parent who seemed to get overwhelmed easily, you might adapt into someone who likes to take charge and has trouble asking for help. Becoming more conscious of this pattern can help you when your child