The National Child Protection Council is calling for for a national discussion on discipline versus punishment. 

This comes as the  Council responds to a viral video of a young teenage girl being beaten  by her guardians. 

In a statement  to the media,  the council said moving forward we must begin to talk about discipline as opposed to punishment and what will be the Christian Nation’s response to spanking.

The  Council said, “we know that foolishness is bound in the heart of the child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

“However, with all of the data speaking to its negative effects, are we going to establish and enforce ‘no hit zones’ and I dare say as has been suggested no hit homes.”

Council Member Dr. Noviah Carter reminds persons who subscribe to surviving and succeeding in spite of the rod, that while you may think you turned out alright, there is no telling how much further you might’ve gone.

“Discipline is not the same thing as punishment.” Behavioral Psychologists define punishment as inflicting pain or other negative effects for the sake of reducing a particular behavior, whereas discipline reorients behavior in more positive directions.

Behaviorists have documented that punishment tends to be less effective than discipline, because punishment tends to make an organism anxious and reduces its ability to learn from a particular event.

Contemporary parents, particularly Christians, wonder whether spanking is effective discipline. Many modern psychological experts are against spanking, and yet  christian parents would like to have children who love and serve God, who exercise restraint in their own behavior, and who are loving and generous, and many believe that spanking is an important tool in this training. 

Advocates of spanking argue that Scripture recommends spanking (see, e.g., Prov. 13:24; 22:15), whereas critics believe that the “rod” in these verses refers to discipline in general, not spanking specifically. 

Over the past month the  National Child Protection Council’s message has been one of H.O.P.E,  the acronym for Healthy Outcomes Positive Experiences.