¶ … Parental Discipline Methods in Public Places In the past, the biblical imprecation to "spare the rod, spoil the child" (Proverbs 13:24) has been replaced by a more enlightened view of discipline and corporal punishment is becoming increasingly rare. To determine the current state of affairs in this area, this paper provides a record of empirical observations of the discipline methods used on children by parents in public places, including a shopping mall, a park and an amusement park. An analysis of the frequency of physical punishments to discipline children and in what situations is followed by an assessment concerning the effects of differing locations, situations and social classes of the parents influenced their public behavior. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the discipline methods used by parents in public places are provided in the conclusion.

Review and Analysis

Disorderliness and misbehaviors in children have been a major concern of parents throughout history (Hassan & Titilayo, 2012). Disruptive or rowdy behaviors or lack of self-control in children can result in delinquent behaviors later in life, so providing appropriate discipline for children is an important part of the social development (Hassan & Titalayo, 2012). Some studies, though, have identified...

According to Hassan and Titilayo, "In the past, parents, teachers and school administrators employed many traditional discipline programs to control the behaviour of children. Some of these programs include the use of brute force, such as spanking or hitting with an object like a cane" (p. 134). When these methods proved ineffective, the typical response was to increase the frequency and intensity of the physical punishments (Hassan & Titilayo, 2012). By very sharp contrast, popular views about physical punishment have changed in dramatic ways in recent years. As Martingale (2009) points out, "Personally, I think it's a funny, funny parent who pulls down their child's knickers to smack their bottom, either in private or in public. It is a punishment with undercurrents of public humiliation and the smacker's assertion of power rather than the control of unruly behavior" (p. 11). Likewise, Ewald (2004) emphasizes that, "Corporal punishment as a means of discipline has been entrenched in U.S. culture since Colonial times [but] attitudes have evolved over the years" (p. 11).
A number of communities in the United States have even outlawed spanking in recent years, and more than a dozen countries have implemented policies…