Blog #6

In the first picture, the structural perspective that I received by looking at it is that if you spank your child for an action done or something said that was inappropriate it is not child abuse it is a form of discipline so that the child may not do it again. "Spank" means "to strike on the buttocks with an open hand." A mission statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) describes it as "striking a child with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intention of modifying behavior without causing physical injury." But if you ask ten moms and dads especially from different countries they have a different perspective on what spanking means.

In the second picture, the structural perspective I received by looking at it is that they (the African parent) can view something that they also have done as something bad but they continue to do it any way. My parents are from Ghana and I can tell you that getting a spanking by the hand or by a belt is a form of discipline. If you did something wrong, if you were not serious about your studies at home, or if your room is untidy and you were told several times on what you should be doing, a beating is what you were getting. When I attended a Caribbean school the teachers had the same perspective on disciplining children and my father will also give them the permission to spank me if I was misbehaving in any way, if I missed homework, and especially if I was disrespectful.