Some parents or caretakers intentionally use physical force against their child, thereby resulting in harming the basic rights of survival such as health, development and dignity. Some forms of the physical abuse are hitting, beating, spanking, slapping, kicking, biting, burning, suffocating, killing, etc. Most of the physical abuse in India by parents is used as a form of corporal punishment, as they believe that such actions will discipline the child. Though there cannot be real intentions of hurting the child by the parents, the kids can accidently get hurt resulting in endangering the lives of the child.

Corporal punishments have been part of the various cultural and social segments, who believe that disciplining is very important. However, there are very limited evidences that show that the corporal punishment can discipline the children effectively. In fact, there are strong evidences that show that the children who have undergone corporal punishments might go through psychological and emotional disturbances in later part of the life such as depression, aggressive behaviour, anxiety, social withdrawal, low self-esteem, etc.

Psychologists are increasingly providing awareness to the parents that instead of adopting corporal punishments, the reinforcement techniques are very useful for disciplining the child. Positive reinforcement techniques are adopted when the child achieves something or adopts some good manger. Giving a gift or praising the child in front of others is some positive reinforcement techniques. However, this should not be practiced every time, as the child will start expecting something all the time. Negative reinforcement techniques are adopted when the child misbehaves and hence the privileges given to the child is removed. For example, cutting down the TV time or favorite toys will help in decreasing the undesired behavior in them.

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