Anton Shusterman
June 4th, 2011
Child Discipline

The most important thing in a child’s life is how his parents treat him. His future and the potential for growth and success are determined by the type of childhood that a person experiences. Sometimes parents don’t understand how important it is to treat their children well. Parents don’t think about the words that they say to their children or the actions that they take around them. Some parents think their children are too small and they will not remember the words and actions going on around them, but discipline is not only showing children how to live life and what not to do in any given situation. Discipline is also showing children what they are supposed to do and how they are
(Zens et al. 192), the better discipline may be positive motivation and a cordial friendship. This is difficult, however, because most parents do not believe that physical discipline has any adverse effects. “According to a nationally-representative survey conducted in 1995, 35% of infants, 95% of toddlers, and over 50% of 12 year-old children had experienced some form of parental physical discipline during the previous year.” (Zens et al 192)
A study conducted by Professor Chantal Bourassa analyzed the impact of the co-occurrence of parental and inter-parental violence on the behavior of adolescents. Results reveal that the co-occurrence of inter-parental violence and child physical abuse has a significantly greater negative impact on behavior than does exposure to inter-parental violence only. Participants who are both abused and exposed to inter-parental violence, exhibit internalized and externalized symptoms falling within the clinical range more frequently. Exposure exclusively to violence between two parents also has a definite impact; for example, teens who are only exposed to violence between parents exhibit internalized and externalized symptoms more frequently than do those who have been neither subject to physical abuse from a parent nor exposed to inter-parental violence.(