Physical Punishment Of Children: What Consequences Does It Have?

Physical punishment is something that many have used for a long time to raise their children. Now we know that this method is not very effective. It is actually the opposite, so that corporal punishment of children can lead to long-term harm to both boys and girls who experience it.

Despite this, there are still many parents who consider corporal punishment as the best way to bring up or correct bad behavior that their children may have. It can be blows, pinching, pulling on the hair or even stronger reactions. What is even more alarming is that it constantly comes in several reports showing that it becomes more widespread and common.

Physical punishment or physical abuse

There is a narrow line between what is punishment and what is abuse. Both are characterized by violent behavior towards a child or young person in an attempt to regain control of them.

The first of them can be defined as a desire to give a painful memory or a bad experience to the child, without it directly harming it, so that they will not repeat whatever bad it is it has done. The other usually causes physical injuries, often intentionally. Physical abuse can be the result of excessive physical punishment.

Regardless of which of these it may be, you should know that it will also affect the child mentally. It brings with it a variety of mental and emotional health problems from an early age.

The consequence of corporal punishment of children

Despite many campaigns to overcome this type of punishment, it is still the most widespread form of violence against children, which in fact is also socially accepted in several places. Those who defend it will argue that it causes the child to behave immediately, but it is not an effective long-term strategy to teach children how to behave.

Below we have listed some of the most obvious and negative consequences of this form of child punishment.

List :

• It damages their self-esteem. It makes them more susceptible to becoming insecure, scared or socially withdrawn.
• Physical punishment limits a child’s autonomy. Instead, it teaches them to be blindly submissive.
• It affects their emotional development, leading them to emotions such as pain, sadness and anxiety.
• Physical punishment forms a barrier to communication between the parents and the child that can last long after they have grown up.
• It can trigger the feeling of being abandoned, lonely and of not getting enough attention.
• It hinders the proper development of necessary social characteristics to resolve conflicts.
• Physical punishment leads to aggressive or violent behavior towards friends and classmates.

• It interferes with a child’s learning ability. Furthermore, it gives them less creativity and poorer development of mental and emotional intelligence.
• Physical punishment impairs the child’s mental health and cognitive abilities.
• It teaches them to look at violence as an appropriate method of resolving a conflict. It also means that many children who experience it at home themselves become someone who resorts to violence. Therefore, it is often the case that they are driven to believe that as an adult it is a good thing with physical punishment, so that they themselves are violent towards their own children.
• It causes behavioral difficulties on many levels in society (property destruction, theft, civil rebellion and vandalism).

Other consequences of corporal punishment

The mental effects are usually in proportion to the kind of punishment the parents have used. Studies show that victims of this type of violence often become abusers themselves.

It is not that they want to harm others. It’s more because they do not know any other form of parenting. When they have grown up, they will face conflicts that they will resolve in the only way they know: with violence.

At the same time, studies show that corporal punishment contributes to some children starting with and abusing drugs or alcohol.

Other consequences are that it affects their personality, mood and quality of sleep. This can lead to increased cortisol levels (which is the stress hormone), and it causes a neurobiological imbalance.

Last thoughts

To conclude, you need to understand that the physical punishment of children affects their emotional and psychological development. Because of this , you should find other solutions to have a better relationship with your children.

Some positive techniques are to reward good behavior, ignore certain negative actions, or to get the child’s attention to identify their bad attitude. Teach them to use love and patience, not with violence and threats.