Many parents swear by spanking their children, saying it corrects bad behavior and teaches children what is right and what is wrong. However, is it really healthy for a parent to spank their child? The Natural Child Project says no. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Punishment interferes with the bond between parent and child, as it is not human nature to feel love towards someone who hurts us. The true spirit of cooperation that every parent desires can only arise through a strong bond based on mutual feelings of love and respect. Punishment, even when it seems to work, can only superficially produce good fear-based behavior, which can only happen until the child is old enough to resist. In contrast, cooperation based on respect will last permanently, bringing many years of mutual happiness as the child and parent grow up. It's true that building relationships with people who hurt us isn't natural, and when it happens it's considered unhealthy. So why do we encourage our children to enter into these types of relationships? The Natural Child Project also states, “If a child receives little parental attention except when being punished, this will further fuse the concepts of pain and pleasure in the child's mind. A child in this situation will have low self-esteem, believing they don't deserve anything better." It's a very sad situation to put a child in. They haven't done anything wrong; they are children and will behave badly. It is the parents' job to peacefully guide the child in a positive direction to build a strong character and a healthy view of right and wrong. Not only can spanking your children lead to distorted views of reality, but it can cause behavioral problems later in life as WELL. Eric P. Slade, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says, "Spanking children under the age of 2 puts them in a higher risk group for later behavioral problems." This particular study looked at the results of a survey of 1,966 children nationwide from ethnically diverse families. Mothers were asked if their children had behavioral problems. The researchers were surprised to find that among those with behavioral problems, 39 percent of all children under age 2 had been spanked at least once in the previous week. Many studies have found this connection linking spanking to behavioral problems in children. So if behavior is what we are trying to correct, why do we spank these children? There are many alternatives to spanking that have been proven to be much more effective. Positive parenting suggests: “Use logical consequences. Consequences that are logically related to behavior help teach children responsibility.” Positive Parenting provides this example: “a child breaks a neighbor's window and his or her parent says, “I see you broke the window, what will you do to fix it?” using a gentle but firm tone of voice. The boy decides to mow the neighbor's lawn and wash his car several times to repay the cost of breaking the window. What does the child learn in this situation? That mistakes are an inevitable part of life and it is not so important that he made the mistake, but that he takes responsibility for fixing the mistake." Keep in mind: this is just an example. Get a document now customized by our expert writers. Get a custom essay.