I've been working on a term paper for one of my classes for school, Child Abuse & Neglect. The topic I have chosen for this particular paper is corporal punishment. There has been much debate over the use of corporal punishment, whether is abusive or effective. I'm also in another class, Parent-Child Relationships, which relates in many ways to my other class, and particularly my research topic.
As I've been conducting research for this paper, in hopes to create a thoughtful debate between the two stances on the matter, I have been shocked by how incredibly biased most of the research is. Some of it is objective, but most of it (for either position) is biased in such a way that the results can prove the point of the researchers. Then there are the articles written by others, who may be experts in some field (psychologists, social workers, etc) who write of their opinions and back it up with the same subjective research I've been finding. Even in my textbooks, authors take a clearly biased stance on many issues, including corporal punishment. This alone has led me to question the validity of what schools are teaching, along with what researchers are "finding." This makes me wonder, what sources are parents seeking out to help them in their parenting? Are these sources objective sources backed up with solid research or proven effectiveness?

However, I am not here to present or argue my current opinion on corporal punishment. Through my frustration and analyzing of different views and research, it has led me to a conclusion that I think is really the only answer for the whole debate.
The question is not whether corporal punishment is good or bad. The question is, how are parents raising their children? There is such a focus on discipline and what is the best way to discipline children (and adolescents). I may be bold to suggest that it may be best to instead focus on what values and morals parents are instilling in their children, if they spend quality time with their kids, show them affection, and encourage their involvement in positive activities. Some of the research I've found asks parents for certain times and weeks how many times they've punished their children. If parents are truly involved in their kid's lives, will they need a lot of punishment? Don't get me wrong, I am in no way suggesting that discipline should not be used! In fact for many kids and teens, I think it could be enforced a lot more.

I think that if there is a mutual respect

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