The need to ban childhood corporal punishment is supported by studies proving that physical punishment during childhood may lead to behavioural and psychological problems in adulthood.  In more cases than not, linear trend analyses showed statistically significant associations between increasing frequency of reported slapping or spanking and increasing rates of lifetime psychiatric disorder (MacMillan 1999).  According to this study, continuous spanking of a child will indeed have a negative outcome on a child’s future behaviors.  However, even with the knowledge that physical punishment can potentially have a negative effect on a child, American parents still support the usage of spanking.

            Most Americans have a very strong support for the spanking of children, and there is proof of this.  For instance, when Sally J. Lieber, a member of the California state assembly, recently made an attempt to move one step closer towards banning corporal punishment.  Lieber had proposed a legislative bill that would declare California the first state to make the use of corporal punishment of children under age 3 a misdemeanor (Alvy 2007).  However, on February 23, 2007, the bill was abandoned because the author of the bill “conceded that it had little chance of passing” (McKinley 2007).  Sadly, the majority of their reasons for supporting corporal punishment during childhood are myths.  (Straus 1994).  According to Straus, one such myth states that if you do not spank your children, they will be spoiled and disobedient.  Although this may be true, part of the reason children become disobedient when they are not spanked may be because the parent did not discuss the child’s misbehavior or they used harsh verbal remarks to criticize the child’s wrongdoings (Straus 1994).  Therefore, spanking is not necessary to prevent a child from running wild and being mischievous.  A long, nice conversation with a child to explain what the child did wrong and why the child is in trouble for they did, rather than reverting to the belt-to-butt punishment, can make all the difference in a child’s future behavior.