Walking past the television, you overhear the news anchor convey an appalling number of reported child abuse cases. Dazed and confused, you take a seat for a brief moment in an attempt to understand how such a horrific number of violent, unethical acts could be committed and how the depraved people who commit them could wake up and look at themselves in the mirror each morning. The anchor reports, that the majority of child abuse cases stemmed initially from parents using physical force in disciplining their children. Processing this new bit of information, you recall years ago when the public began to question corporal punishment, and you realize why there was such controversy in spanking a child. The news rolls on as you mull over the various effects of corporal punishment and contemplate the progression of its brutality. You wonder how society could overlook the possible consequences of physically reprimanding a child and how such a harsh form of discipline could be so prevalent. Contrary to public belief, corporal punishment is ineffective and unethical in that it causes physical and psychological damage.
             Spanking a child may stop the child from misbehaving for the moment, but his compliance will last for only a short time. Corporal punishment may actually increase a child's non-compliant behavior; it reinforces rebellion, revenge, and resentment, and therefore is ineffective. As you continue to sit uneasily pondering over the recent news reports, an old movie is called to mind. In this movie Billy, a small ten-year-old boy, is physically reprimanded for misbehaving. Instead of learning to abide by the rules in order to avoid another spanking, Billy mistakenly assumes that he is constantly hit because his parents do not love him. Over time hatred and resentment well up inside the little boy; he begins to deliberately misbehave and rebel merely to antagonize and irritate his parents. You realize that the movie clearly illustrated...