Mohammed Ali Syed

Prof. Bowers
English 1101-034
Annotated Bibliography
21 November 2016
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Volokh, Eugene. "Parents Have a Right to Reasonably Spank Their Children, Says Massachusetts
High Court." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 26 June 2015. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
The article highlights a case in Massachusetts where a father was caught spanking his 2year-old daughter in public when she refused to listen to his directions. The high court clears a
hoax law which stated that parents can be charged under criminal law if they hit their kids. The
state trial judge reversed this and said that it is a common-law right to spank your kids, provided
that it is done for a reason, and force is not used to the point where there is a substantial risk of
causing physical harm. Despite stating this clearly, the state judge said If youre in public, its
not appropriate to discipline in this fashion.
This write-up of a case can be of great evidence for me in an argument essay because it
not only simply supports my stands, but also gives a court case that backs it up. There is a certain
criteria in which spanking should be the resort; this, of course does not mean that spanking is the
only thing one can do, but it may mean that it is the best option for that particular situation. I
want to argue that spanking should be a thing when it comes to teaching discipline to kids, and
there are some people that are completely against it. The writer of this write-up also agrees with
me; this could be one of my best sources that can be used for my essay for this reason.
Cantu, Kristin. "Why You Shouldn't Spank Your Child - Thriving Blog." Thriving Blog. Boston
Children's Hospital, 28 Sept. 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

The blog on parenting sheds light on how one should not spank their kids as a study that
was done on on-year-old kids showed that the ones who were spanked had decreased cognitive
skills and had an aggressive behavior by the age of three. The blogger also says that kids should
learn discipline and respect through love, rather than fear that will be inflicted through capital
punishment. Psychologists suggest that kids should learn through imitation even when it comes
to self-control. They say that parents should be a role model in teaching control and this should
be done through observation by the child, and not by getting spanked. The blogger also says that
the society should come together and not make families look bad when their kids throw a
tantrum at a retail store. The blog strongly suggested the idea that parents need to understand that
the use of force will only make their children go distant from them while makeing them more
violent.
The blog is completely against spanking and argues that spanking only teaches violence to
kids. I can use this as a counter claim on my essay where I may try to argue how spanking should
not even be the last resort. This blog also uses evidences from studies done at the Duke
University, which will help me with either refuting or conceding the counter claim as it has some
strong evidence to back itself. Besides all this, by the time I am near writing my final draft, this
may change my view point completely. I will be keeping my eye closely on this particular source
for this reason.

Should you Spank Your Kid? The Great Debate. Yahoo. Yahoo Parenting, 30 May 2015. Web.
21 Nov. 2016.

The author takes a very dynamic approach towards explaining why spanking may not
work, but takes an unexpected turn by the end of the article and coins a term called backup
spanking. This word refers to the spanking that will be the result of continued ignoring behavior
showed by kids despite several attempts made by the parents to teach them discipline. The entire
article is based on research and gives direct quotations from what psychologists have to say
about spanking, where many say that spanking will only work if it is rare, and continued use of
physical force will lead to loss of trust in parents, aggressive behavior, and cognitive
impairments in early childhood.
The liked how the entire time the author talked about how spanking is not the best way for
parenting, but in the end says that it is necessary occasionally. It is almost as if the author gave in
by the end. This may sound like a weakness in the author, but I think this will help me form a
structure to my essay as I am trying to say that spanking should be a way to teach discipline. Just
like the author, I am against continued use of spanking, and I too think that spanking should be
the last resort. The author also explained how other forms of punishment will do the exact same
without the use of physical force. This will help me form a meaning to what I am trying to say by
letting me gradually lead into the last resort, as mentioned above, spanking.

Pingleton, Jared. Spanking Can Be an Appropriate Form of Child Discipline. Time. Time, 16
Sept. 2014. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

The article highlights the case with an NFL running back Adrian Peterson, who got
arrested for abusing his four-year-old son. By digressing completely from the case, the author
continues to count the important task parents are given in this world. The author agrees on total
right and duty of a parent to shape the future of their children and how they may do it however
they want, given that spanking will be administered within proper guidelines. The author tries
to express his claim in a very calm yet emotionally challenging manner; emotionally challenging
in a sense that it makes the reader question his upbringing if it was not for his or her parents. The
article continues with an emotional manifestation of hatred towards parents who abuse their
children when they are angry. Displacement of anger on a child is what leads to abuse and the
author says that it can never be used as an excuse to teach discipline.
I loved the coherent ascendance of the authors thoughts throughout the article. He showed
his claim by the beginning of the writing itself and took gradual steps into backing it up and
proving his point. This article gave me ideas on what I should implement in my essay and how I
should structure it-Explain the role of parents, make use of pathos and make the readers think
about what they would have been without their parents, explain where physical use of force is
not a good idea, show a fine line between spanking and abusing a child, and finally controlling
ones violent character when he or she is raising a child. These points will help me shape my
body paragraphs and will give a flow to my essay. According to me, proper flow of ideas paired
with gradual steps into convincing the reader to what I believe is the key to a successful
argument paper.