填空题

Violence in American families takes many forms. One (36) form that we often overlook is the physical punishment of children. Perhaps 93 percent of all parents beat their children in order to (37) them. Young children receive the most punishment, but studies reveal that about 50 percent of high school (38) report experiencing or being threatened with physical punishment. Punishment of children varies from a light tap to a (39) beating, but historically we have granted parents the right to use physical force against their children. A law passed in 1696, for example, called for the death (40) for a child of "sufficient understanding" over the age of sixteen who cursed or struck a parent or who was "stubborn and (41) "in refusing to obey a parent. Most parents use physically punishment in the belief that it will control the (42) in their children and make them (43) . In fact, violence—whether verbal or physical—sets children a poor example. (44) . Studies have found that (45) . Perhaps not surprisingly, abusive parents are themselves likely to have been abused when they were children. (46) .