There have been big changes in the attitudes of most
parents over the last few years. Physical punishment is banned in schools in
most countries, and in many countries, there are moves to ban all physical
punishment of children even at home. However, many parents still believe that
they have the right to use some physical punishments to deal with certain
misbehavior at certain ages.
It’s easy to find reasons to allow some physical
punishments. One issue is that many parents find it very difficult to abandon
physical punishment completely. Parents argue that this was the way they were
brought up and that it didn’t do any harm to them. They believe that for the
child’s sake they have the right to discipline the child in any way they
consider fit, including using some physical punishments. The other one is that
physical punishment can be quick and effective. There is not much point
reasoning with a screaming child in the supermarket.
However, there are several reasons why we should stop
using physical punishment. One point is that most parents are not trained to
deal with misbehaving children. They don’t have enough resources or choices to
handle the situation. As a result, they immediately react by hitting the child
even if there are other solutions to the problem. Another point is that unless
people are challenged or forced to change their belief, they may keep following
negative habits. An example is seat belt use —now most people wear seat belts
without thinking, while years ago the idea of using seat belts was strange to
most people. In the same way, banning physical punishment will force people to
change their habits.
In conclusion, parents have to change some of their belief
and ideas about how children should be raised. It is possible to avoid the use
of physical force, and doing so will help us move closer to the dream of
removing violence from our society.
1.According to the first paragraph, many parents think
that ____________.
A.they are free
to use physical punishment on their children
B.most of the
children behave badly in their daily life
C.they have
changed their attitudes towards their children
D.physical
punishment is effective to educate their children
2.Many parents won’t give up physical punishment
because _____________.
A.they are
disappointed with their children
B.they were
brought up just in the same way
C.they don’t want to hurt their children badly
D.they don’t know what to do with their children
3.The author gives the example of using seat belts in
order to show ____________.
A.most people
are used to wearing seat belts
B.it’s not difficult to change some negative habits
C.seat belts
are really very necessary and useful
D.people won’t change their old habits unless forced
4.The main purpose of the author in writing this
passage is to ____________.
A.talk about a
ban on using physical punishment
B.tell us we
should educate our children in other ways
C.advise
parents to give up using physical punishment
D.suggest
physical punishment should be used at home