Child abuse is a problem within society that affects the lives of not only the victims but also the lives of many people in the social order. Child abuse is any mistreatment or neglect of a child that results in non-accidental injury or harm and cannot be explained logically. There are different forms of abuse and neglect, and many state governments have developed their own legal description of what constitutes child maltreatment for the purpose of removing a child and pursuing criminal charges. Child abuse consists of several forms of harm including physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect. Physical abuse is any non-accidental physical injury inflicted on a child. Physical abuse is an injury resulting from physical aggression. Forms of physical abuse may consist of hitting, whipping, hitting, pinching, biting, or spanking. Spanking is the traditional and most used form of physical punishment, consisting of blows applied to the buttocks. It involves repeatedly hitting the buttocks, usually as physical punishment, with an open hand. Spanking can also be implemented by including belts, whips, sticks, paddles, or any other household item. Educators and parents commonly administer spanking to children. Spanking usually refers to a child lying, on his stomach, in the educator's lap and the parent or teacher repeatedly slapping him on the bottom. The question of spanking is whether it is justifiable or an act of child abuse. Some child specialists, such as Christine Walsh and Michael Boyle, argue that if a parent must spank, it should not be done out of anger and only as a last option when other forms of discipline have been deemed unsuccessful. They say that for a spanking to be educational it must be… center of paper… their child, even if obviously angry, that emotion is likely to be very obvious to the child. Unfortunately, that anger is very likely to attach itself to punishment, resulting in the unwanted link of: crazy parent = pain. A serene and calm parent is much less likely to be an active part of the negative memory. Of course, this is completely up to the parent's judgment, but I tend to agree that not only is spanking less likely to be overused if applied lightly, but it also holds a better sway when applied. I would only declare this when there evidently appears to be no other way to reach the child. Spanking is certainly not the only effective punishment, and perhaps not even the best, however I consider it effective, if applied carefully, in relation to other teaching mechanisms.