Children in today's society appear to be more “out of control” than previous generations. Is this due to lack of discipline? For generations children have been spanked, had their mouths slapped when they talked back, or other various forms of discipline that today would be viewed as child abuse. With today's generation, when spanking, if a mark is left on that child for more than 24 hours, it is considered child abuse. How did society, which once thought spanking was okay, come to not see eye to eye? Through many years of research, psychologists are beginning to see that spanking or being aggressive with children has long-term effects on them. What exactly is considered child discipline? It is the set of rules, rewards and punishments used to teach self-control. It is used to increase desirable behaviors and decrease unwanted behaviors in children. When discipline is used in excess, the desirable behaviors that parents try to get from their children turn into undesirable behaviors. The child learns to be afraid of a parent. This fear turns into anxiety which can eventually lead to depression. “Unwanted side effects would include aggression, antisocial behavior and masochism.” (Marshall 1).Dr. Marshall, a clinical psychologist, has published a new book that summarizes research findings on the harmful effects of corporal punishment to help make informed decisions about how to raise your children, rather than based on how parents raised them. “The harmful psychological effects of spanking are the best-kept secret in developmental psychology,” Marshall says. (Marshall 2) “I am convinced that parents would abandon the use of corporal punishment to discipline their children if they fully understood this research find...... middle of paper ...... line your child up without hitting him.Pg . 219-224; http://www.nospank.net/hyman2.htm; http://www.temple.edu/temple_times/2-17-05/hyman.htmlMarshall, Michael J (2002). Whey spanking doesn't work; stop this bad habit and take over effective discipline.” http://stopspanking.com/. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from the College Virtual Library database and stopspanking.comPhelan, Thomas (2004). “Magic 1-2-3”. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from the College Virtual Library database.Wilson, Elaine. “Guiding Young Children Series: Discipline Without Punishment.” http://osufacts.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2424/T-2328web.pdf. Retrieved March 11, 2012. Wyckoff, Jerry (2002). “Discipline without yelling or spanking: practical solutions to the most common behavioral problems in preschool age”. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from the College Virtual Library database.