Analyzing My Own Assumptions

Using what I have learned from my text, I can now speak about how I view the culture that is examined in the article.

1. What cultural values or beliefs do we share with the culture in which the text was written? 

• The culture that surrounds the article is familiar to us, but maybe the scenario that sparked the article is not. Not everyone knows who Adrain Peterson is or about his child abuse trials. 
•  Physical punishment is commonplace, even in this day and age, so many people in our culture and society can personally relate to the controversy. 
• Personal opinions aside, I think everyone can understand how spanking would make a child fear, rather than respect, their parent, and how this could be detrimental to their health and maturation. 
• I grew up in a household where spanking was used, and that is part of why I am against it so strongly. I never felt like it was abuse of any sort, but it did make me fear my dad instead of respect him, and that is still affecting our relationship to this day. 

Image by BK. "Regina Brett Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable".
Uploaded 7/15/14 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic license. 

2. What cultural or social beliefs do we not share?

• Almost everyone is appalled by the idea of hitting a child with a tree branch. However, that is an extreme example of physical punishment. Less people would be horrified with spanking; maybe they would be persuaded otherwise after reading the evidence and studies. 
• It is baffling to me how Peterson was freed of all charges. His actions absolutely constitute as abuse, and yet somehow, the jury decided that he was not guilty.

Questions 3 and 4 combined

• This topic is neither distant or different from our culture, because it is occurring in our culture.
•  However, this controversy began decades ago. Spanking has always been a form of punishment. Some parents are in favor, others are opposed, and that's how it used to be until scientists and psychologist began to question the affects it may have on children. 
• I know for sure that neither I nor my future husband will use physical punishment against our future children. There are many other ways of disciplining a child, all of which I believe are more effective than spanking. 

Reflection: 

Dylan did a good job of directly mentioning the opinions stated in the article, and then responding with his own views and opinions. He also had some difficulty with the last two questions since both of our controversies, or the event that inspired them, are fairly recent.

Savannah presented both sides' arguments before stating her own beliefs. Even though I don't know much about this topic, I was able to understand why she feels the way that she does and see what evidence she has used to form her opinions.