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It Shouldn't Hurt to be a Child

"The birch is used only out of bad temper and weakness, for the birch is a servile punishment which degrades the soul even when it corrects, if indeed it corrects, for its usual effect is to harden." - Saint John Baptiste de La Salle, On the Conduct of Christian Schools, 1570

This is a note to the many parents who defend spanking on the basis of their religious beliefs. I find this argument mystifying, as love is defined in the Bible as being patient and kind1. Hitting a child is neither patient nor kind, and does not accomplish the true goal intended. It only produces feelings of anger, resentment, and low self-esteem, not the genuine willing cooperation the parent seeks. Adults too would cooperate with someone who threatened or hit them, but they would do so only through fear, and only if the other person held more power. Genuine cooperation comes from the heart. The only cooperation worth having is that which is given freely by a child, not because he has been frightened into obedience, but because he feels loved, respected, and understood, and consequently wants to treat his parents with love and respect in return.

Sometimes parents justify spanking by saying they do it only when they are "calm". Although I wish no parent ever hit a child, I would prefer to hear that they spank only when they are angry; at least that would make some logical sense to the child, and be consistent with what he is learning about human nature. If a parent is indeed "calm", then he should be able to think clearly enough to discover more creative and positive ways to resolve a problem.

All punishment is emotionally dangerous and mind-warping. Associating so-called "love" with the deliberate infliction of pain is deeply confusing to a child, because children know in their hearts that love and pain are inconsistent. This kind of confusion, if experienced often enough, can lead to masochistic, sadistic, or other pathological behavior in adulthood, in which love and pain are associated - hence the strange "spankings wanted" personal ads in some newspapers.

It may be helpful to consider the most common reasons a child "misbehaves"2:

If we try to change a child's behavior without attending to these natural, universal, and understandable feelings and needs, we do not help the child, because the underlying problem has not been dealt with. Consequently, the child learns nothing about how to handle similar problems in the future. There is no specific information in a spanking, and any verbal direction - constructive or not - that is given at the time cannot be heard by a frightened, angry, and resentful child. The most timely opportunity for the child to learn something important has been lost.

Simply forcing a child, by means of our greater size and power, to meet our needs does not resolve the real issues which led to the behavior. The unwanted behavior - or another kind of misbehavior - will recur until the child's legitimate needs are met, her feelings are understood and accepted, and she feels truly loved and secure.

It is inevitable that sometimes the child's needs will conflict with our own, but this is not the child's fault any more than when the needs of two adults conflict. The difference is that parents are in a position of superior power which they can - but should not - misuse. It is wrong and unfair for the strong to overcome the weak by force, and there are always alternatives. If we use our creativity, we can resolve conflicts in a positive and compassionate way. Indeed, any negativity or force in conflict resolution simply creates more conflict. Because of this, punishment and misbehavior can quickly escalate into a vicious cycle, with parent and child locked in a struggle for power. The parent, having more power by virtue of his size, parental role, and one-sided laws that protect adults - but not children - from physical aggression, can always win such a struggle, at least until the child reaches the teenage years and is physically strong enough to rebel.

The only message in punishment is rejection. The unbearable pain of being rejected by those who are so important to the child's very survival will require him to deny his true feelings. As it is too painful to believe that a loved parent is deliberately hurting him, the child instead begins to believe that punishment is appropriate and proper behavior for a parent, that a child misbehaves because he is "bad", and that "bad" children deserve to be hurt. It is in this way that misconceptions about children's behavior and the proper way to respond to that behavior, continue through the generations.

As children learn most clearly by example, true loving guidance consists of patience, trust, acceptance, and understanding shown to the child by the parents. A child who is punished often enough may appear "cooperative" on the surface, but the hidden anger and resentment - unless it is directly recognized and dealt with - can accumulate over the years until the child feels strong enough to express it to those who have hurt him; angry teenagers do not fall from the sky. Then the parents give up on "discipline" because it no longer "works". But kind parents who treat their children with respect, understanding, and patient explanations find that this "method" continues to work - through infancy, toddlerhood, childhood, the teenage years, and beyond into adulthood. When the parent in later years is in need of care, the child will then happily return the love and assistance he was given in childhood.

We can feel confident that the kindnesses we show to our children when they are young will return to us tenfold. Sadly, we can also be confident that punishment will convey continued anguish to future generations.

"When a Christian parent tells a child who is about to be punished that 'Jesus teaches that you must receive the rod,' he cannot justify this with any text from the Gospels. Jesus never advocated any such punishment. Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus approve of the infliction of pain upon children by the rod or any other such implement, nor is he ever reported to have recommended any kind of physical discipline of children to any parent... In the New testament, only two unknown men - one the author of Hebrews, the other the author of Revelation - can be cited by even the most literal-minded Christians. The practice thus rests upon only the most fragile new Testament foundation."

Spare the Child: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse

1 1 I Corinthians xiii.4. 1 I Corinthians xiii.4.
2 Adapted from Solter, Aletha, "The Disadvantages of Time-Out," Mothering 65 (Winter 1992): 38-43.

Note: The slogan "It Shouldn't Hurt to be a Child" was written by Gary and Sharon Rosenfeldt for a poster by Vincent Sinclair, Victims of Violence Society, Ottawa, Ontario.

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Jan Hunt, M.Sc., offers counseling worldwide, with a focus on parenting and unschooling. She is the Director of The Natural Child Project and author of The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart and A Gift for Baby.