Discipline a child or child abuse ?

Beating a child to discipline him can be against the law in some Western countries. The authorities may remove the child from their care or they could go to jail and the parents may face discrimination's in their work place.

Children are born without knowing what is right or acceptable and parents are supposed to teach them and show exemplary behaviours and bring them up as good citizens.


It is easily said than done when you have today's kids who are super active and have more energy than your old body. Even when you beat them with your palms on their backsides, you will only feel the pain and there seems no effects on the child.

It may take sometime for him to learn what is right and what is wrong.There are certain phases a child has to go through and you cannot rush his pace .It will take time for him to understand and learn .

Why do you want to beat him ?

It is because he does not obey or listen to your order after several admonitions or your shouts getting louder and louder but not attaining the desire effects. As a last resort , you will have to use the cane to teach him obedience.
Spare the rod , spoil the child. You came from that world and you want to perpetuate this kind of doctrine.

It is because you want him to learn fast but unfortunately he is just a kid only and his mentality is not the same as yours.You cannot expect a child to think like an adult and you must treat them with tender care.

Perhaps his brain is still developing and he is unable to grasp that concept.
You would have to repeat and repeat countless number of times till it sinks into his head.

If you beat your kids , the problem is not the kid but it is you . You do not know how to handle an innocent child .

Sometimes when you beat your kids, you don't realize the anger and stress in you and you may use more force than is necessary.Your pent up anger is released and it can be explosive and cause major harm to the kid .Some parents can fly into a blind rage and forget that he is only a child and lashes out like a mad man.

To make your child feel the pain and the brunt of your anger is definitely very wrong.This is child abuse as you endanger his life. You cannot take out your stress or anger on a little child.

Instead of beating them , you could use other effective methods like not taking him out ,standing in the corner, banish him to his room or cut their pocket money.

Never beat a child if you can help it. If you must beat, then only beat his open palm of his hand and nowhere else.Before you beat him , educate him and tell him what he did was wrong.You should give him a few warnings before you carry out the beating. If he cannot understands , then you should not beat him at all.

Don't go berserk and simply whack anywhere you see for you can injure him seriously.If you have raw anger, then you need to seek help and anger management.

Know the differences between child abuse and discipline before it is too late.Child abuse can have disasterous consequences.

Suggested readings:-

http://www.allaboutparenting.org/child-abuse-vs-discipline-faq.htm

http://www.indianchild.com/child_abuse.htm