Discipline

Parental discipline and punishment has been a controversial topic for a long time. At one time no one blinked an eye when a parent said they spanked their children, but today it's almost a crime. Berger (2011) states that many parents remember being spanked as a child and some researchers believe that it is an effective teaching method. Personally I think it can be effective in certain situations. I know that there is a fine line between discipline and abuse. I was spanked as a child and I learned to respect my parents and listen to authority figures. I know a lot of people would disagree with me. I know parents that have never spanked their children and they respect and listen to their parents as well. I believe it also has to do with the way the child parents were raised and their personal parenting style. When you look at it from the view of most parents today, when they grew up most of them were spanked and so were their friends, so there is a generational gap between the current generation and our parents. In our parents day they grew up with that kind of discipline and find it completely acceptable. I often wonder why some people today treat their parents with disrespect and I wonder if it has to do with them not being disciplined as a child or if it has to do with the type of parenting style that the child grew up with.

Reference:
Berger, K. S. (2011). The Developing Person Through the Life Span. New York: Worth Publishers.