Ronald W. Pies: Article Analysis

Ronald W. Pies is a physiatrist and a professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Although he states in his article, “ Is it OK to spank a child every once in a while? “, that he and his wife do not have children, therefore he tries to keep all judgments aside, he still can not ignore the extensive negative evidence that corporal punishment (which includes spanking) has on children’s mental health. I believe the author is trying to come off very unbiased so he can catch the attention of parents without making them feel offended or attacked so he can explain the effects spanking has on children, hoping to change their beliefs on discipline. I like how he leaves his key question open in the title to catch the attention of people on both sides of the controversy; he doesn’t give his stance away quickly, which evades them an opportunity to skip over his article.
To support his claims that evidence shows a strong correlation between spanking and mental health issues, the author cites a quote that was stated by Michelle Knox, Professor of Psychiatry at the …show more content…
He continues on citing the source from 2011, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNA) issued a statement noting that corporal punishment is a serious risk to childhood development, that can cause antisocial behavior and gives the children a greater chance of being violent in their adulthood. He adds another similar source after that by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, in a statement released in 2012 that explains even though corporal punishment might modify the behavior for the time being, it doesn’t fix the behavior over time and it can lead to increased aggressive behavior and less appropriate