"Corporal punishment refers to the deliberate infliction of pain on someone as a method of changing behavior (3)". It includes a wide range of methods such as hitting, slapping, kicking and punching, shaking, choking, use of various objects such as wooden paddles, belts, or sticks, painful body posture, or prevention of urine or stool elimination. The use of corporal punishment in the home and at school has been widely debated. Some claim that it is a means of discipline, while others call it abuse.
             As an adult, how do you deal with adults who you can't seem to gain cooperation from? Do you hit your boss, employee, spouse, or best friend? In all 50 states, it is a crime to hit a spouse or an employee. It is also a crime to hit servants, military trainees, patients in psychiatric hospitals, elderly in nursing homes, prisoners, any other fellow adult, and even pets. However, not one of these states has a law making a crime out hitting children. In fact, almost half of our 50 states still allow the use of corporal punishment in schools and in child care centers. "According to child abuse laws, it is acceptable to hit your child as long as it doesn't leave a wound or mark (2)." Whether or not it leaves a mark is hardly the issue. The most important job as a parent, teacher, and as a society is to give children a positive sense of self, and help lay the foundations for self-discipline, not to instill fear, resentment, and anger in a child. Corporal punishment cannot teach a child self-discipline which is based on true respect for self and others. What it does is cause depressive disorders, low self-esteem, and resentment, among other things. Children may learn to obey out of fear rather than learning true cooperation based on mutual respect. They often learn to hide their anger, resentment, and shame. "They may learn to lie to protect themselves, to cheat when they can, and to steal some tokens of fairness out of life (1)."
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