eir forefathers did. In Spare the Child, Philip Greven points out, "Modern forms of Christian Fundamentalism share the same obsessions with obedience to authority characteristic of earlier modes of Evangelical Protestantism, and the same authoritarian streak evident among seventeenth - and eighteenth-century Anglo-American Evangelicals is discernible today, for precisely the same reasons: the coercion of children through painful punishments in order to teach obedience to divine and parental authority" (198). The idea many years ago is obvious, society felt that physical punishment was necessary for obedience. With study and research over time, successful child rearing has changed to produce better results. Dr. Benjamin Spock adds, "In the olden days, most children were spanked, on the assumption that this was necessary to make them behave. In the twentieth century, as parents and professionals have studied children here and in other countries, they have come to realize that children can be well-behaved, cooperative, and polite without ever having been punished physically" (437). Realizing the impact this old-fashioned method can have on a child, society is changing their views on how we should discipline. We are moving away from intimidation and pain tactics to more effective, positive methods.EFFECTS / RESULTSTo be more effective in child rearing we must first realize the undesired results that can come from using physical punishment. When a parent strikes a child, they are teaching that child to deal with problems in a violent manner. As an opponent to corporal punishment, Murray Straus writes, "I am not saying the evidence is definitive. I believe future research will confirm the conclusions that the violence we so abhor and fear has part of its origins in the actions of loving parents who, by spanking children, unintentionally teach violence We should act now because corporal punishment is violence. Therefore, regardless...
