Spanking is to parenting what prisons are to criminal justice. Allow me to elaborate:
What does spanking do? âIt teaches kids to behave!â Actually, no. It teaches kids to fear their caregiver(s). But say we go with that line. How does spanking teach kids to behave? âIt shows them the consequences of bad actions!â Actually, no. It shows kids that when the caregiver is displeased, the kid gets hurt. In the mind of the child, the sequence of events is not [misbehave:consequence]. It is [caregiver unhappy:pain]. And maybe youâll say âBut my kid stopped mouthing off after I started spanking them for itâ. Okay, sure. Maybe they stopped responding when you argue, but only because the learned to fear what their response would bring. Theyâre not holding their tongue because they realized itâs disrespectful or rude or whatever else you believe it is. Theyâre holding their tongue because they know it wonât do any good and will only make the situation worse for them. I can guarantee they are still thinking all those rebellious naughty talk-backy thoughts. They just arenât saying them out loud. Spanking did not teach your child to behave, it taught them to walk on eggshells.
Similarly, prisons do absolutely nothing to enforce laws. Prisons do nothing to fix the real crimes that do get committed. A shooter or rapist or embezzler being incarcerated does not bring their victim back to life, un-traumatize them, or make reparations for any damages. Additionally, it makes life a living hell for the innocent people who end up in jail (OF WHICH THERE ARE A HELL OF A LOT). And maybe you might say that the point of prison is to encourage good behavior, because no one wants to go to jail. I would ask, then, why there are so many prisons, of which so many are full or overcrowded. Clearly, the threat of incarceration is not keeping people out of jail. Additionally, much like a child who was spanked being afraid to do normal things in their own home for fear of displeasing their caregiver, regular non-criminal people are afraid of prison, even though they have done nothing wrong. They know they could be incarcerated because of falsified evidence, biased testimonies, unfair trial, or simply bigotry. Especially people of color. Even though they havenât done anything wrong, they are scared of what could happen to them if the person in power (police) was unhappy with them.
Negative consequences unrelated to the actual incident do not discourage âbad behaviorâ. Just like a child who is spanked will simply learn to be sneakier, a thief who goes to jail will simply cover their tracks better next time.
Stop spanking your kids, and abolish prisons. Have a nice day.
