DOES PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT HAVE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE EFFECT?

At my job, there are a lot of mothers with their children come to have services. Some

kids sit still and wait for their moms, but they all don’t. From my observation, the ones that sit still, their moms don’t have to say much about how they should behave in public; however, the ones that more hyper, their moms have to yell at them, or even spank them in public. Shouldn’t it be the opposite? The ones that their mothers have to correct their behaviors by spanking usually cry, and scream, but their misbehavior can’t be stopped. It leads to a question, does physical punishment have a positive or negative affect? If someone asked question twenty years back, most of the answer maybe is a “positive”; however, in this digital century, people are easily accessed to the internet, being more educated, can see things in different angles, the answer is maybe shifted. There are a lot more psychiatrists, or even therapists more children, or mover over counselors in schools, so it is like an open door to the children’s world.  Lots of studies have shown the pros and the cons of corporal punishment, so there are a lot debate between the positive and negative effects of this parenting method.

Professionals believes there are still positive effects of physical punishment. Robert E. Larzelere, and Brett R. Kuhn, who are psychologist, show their evidence in the article “Comparing Child Outcomes of Physical Punishment and Alternative Disciplinary Tactics: A Meta-Analysis.” Meta-analysis shows 25 years of comparing physical punishment with other parenting methods, they group physical punishment in general in 4 different category such as conditional spanking, customary physical punishment, overly severe physical punishment, and predominant physical punishment. Conditional punishment is the child being punished under certain circumstances, and people prefer it over nonphysical punishment to correct children’s behavior, and isolated behavior. Customary punishment is a common parenting met