It was with great dismay that we listened this week to several community and school leaders at the Senate Education Committee hearing on school violence suggest violence as a solution to the problem.
The old time-worn "spare the rod and spoil the child" came up, much to our horror, along with more graphic descriptions of violent episodes between father and son — fully condoned by the speaker.
One of the effects of beating children is proving to them that violence works. Beating children is not discipline. It is an exercise of power. Whoever is bigger or stronger or has the better weapon wins.
Study after study has concluded that there is a powerful connection between youth violence and child abuse in the home.
Spanking at an age that is appropriate, though not our preferred child-rearing method, is different from beating a young adult or slapping a child in the face. It is different from punching. These things are not discipline, they are abuse.
Children who grow up being beaten more often than not resort to violence as a solution for anger and frustration, since it is the method they have been taught to use for conflict resolution.
There are better, more effective ways to
discipline children.
Encouraging corporal punishment at home or anywhere else as a solution to violence on school campuses or on our streets is not the answer. In fact, it is part of the problem.