Research has established that far from correcting the child,
physical punishment can do lasting harm.

　 　• First of all, by physically punishing a small child, we are not teaching
　 　 him to be sorry for what he has done, all he is doing is just learning 
　 　 to be afraid of our anger.

　 　• The child may well grow up either fearful where he is always afraid of
　 　doing something wrong or he may become sly where he learns to
　 　hide what he is doing from us.

　 　• Children who incur excessive physical punishment often end up
　 　becoming stubborn. Instead of learning a lesson and not repeating a
　 　naughty act, they just learn to endure the pain and continue doing
　 　what they want.

　 　• By physically punishing a child, we are sending the message that might
　 　is right. They will grow up believing that it is alright to hurt people they
　 　are smaller and weaker.

　 　• Since the child cannot retaliate, he may end up harbouring anger, fear
　 　and resentment against the parents which may express themselves in
　 　other ways.

　 　• By giving way to our temper, we are only making our lack of
　 　self-control more evident. Apart from this, our aggression and anger
　 　can cause deep rooted insecurity in the child. This can lead to life long
　 　complexes.

　 　• What one should do is to rein in one's temper. Tell the child what he
　 　was done wrong. Be sure to enforce the message that it is not the child
　 　that is at fault but his behavior. If at all the child needs to be disciplined,
　 　there are other ways of doing it.

　 　• Take a positive approach to help the child develop self-discipline which
　 　will eventually do away with the needs for punishment altogether
　 　(physical or otherwise).

Parents are the child's whole world.
By physically punishing the child we can really shake his foundations.

延伸閱讀 ＞宏文老師對於體罰的看法
延伸閱讀 ＞不繳作業嗆「給零分」　師摑生挨告