Researchers Analyze 50 Years of Spanking Studies

[Nithavela]

Not only is spanking not effective when it comes to disciplining children, it can actually lead to everything from mental health problems to aggression. That's according to a study published April 7 in the Journal of Family Psychology. Researchers looked at 50 years of prior research on nearly 161,000 children. "The upshot of the study is that spanking increases the likelihood of a wide variety of undesired outcomes for children," the study's coauthor says in a press release. "Spanking thus does the opposite of what parents usually want it to do." Those undesired outcomes are the same ones experts see with child abuse. "We as a society think of spanking and physical abuse as distinct behaviors," says one researcher. "Yet … spanking is linked with the same negative child outcomes as abuse, just to a slightly lesser degree."

Despite years of evidence that spanking causes problems, including cognitive difficulties and antisocial behavior, in children—and a lack of evidence that it actually teaches kids to mind their parents—the practice is still widespread. A survey in 2002 showed nearly 80% of US preschoolers were spanked, Mic reports. And, according to NBC News, a 2013 poll found 81% of Americans think spanking—"technically legal" in all 50 states—is "sometimes appropriate." Researchers argue that spanking is continuing to be practiced not because it's effective but because children who are spanked grow up to become parents who spank.

http://www.newser.com/story/224147/study-spanking-is-nearly-as-damaging-as-child-abuse.html

 

[nightflight]

Spanking never worked on me. Writing sentences over and over however did. There are much better and creative punishments that do work.

 

[TheNorwegian]

From my limited experience on this forum, it seems like the unhelpful practice of spanking is supported on religious grounds. I have been accused of being un-biblical and even anti-Christian for saying that spanking is bad, even if my arguments are thoroughly in line with Christian ethics. If the practice of spanking really is supported by many churches in the US, I think someone should take a closer look at such teaching and how that affects the practice

 

[nightflight]

A swat on the behind or a smack on the hand when it reaches for a hot pot on the stove is not wrong.
But then, I think progressives probably should have been spanked, or at least told "no!" every now and then.

 

[Nithavela]

I think that the best way of teaching a child about a hot pot on a stove is to have the child touch the plate when it is cold and then heating it up until the child pulls back it's hand on it's own decision. This way, it learns why it shouldn't touch the stove without getting hurt.

 

[nightflight]

I think that the best way of teaching a child about a hot pot on a stove is to have the child touch the plate when it is cold and then heating it up until the child pulls back it's hand on it's own decision. This way, it learns why it shouldn't touch the stove without getting hurt.

Yeah, but if the child doesn't grok that, then later on if he/she does it again, its perfectly appropriate to smack their hand.

 

[Nithavela]

I think that such a slap would fall into the category of damage prevention and not the category of punishment, and thus does not have anything to do with this discussion.

 

[TheNorwegian]

But then, I think progressives probably should have been spanked, or at least told "no!" every now and then.

I understand your logic to be: "People who disagrees with me do so because they have not been properly spanked"
Is this how you see it?

 

[MennoSota]

Spanking never worked on me. Writing sentences over and over however did. There are much better and creative punishments that do work.

 

[Sistrin]

study-spanking-is-nearly-as-damaging-as-child-abuse

And how many government agencies do you want created or involved in policing American parents to make sure no child is smacked behind?

 

[Cearbhall]

It's not that spanking is evil, which I think is all that some spanking advocates hear when people speak out against it. It's just that the outcomes of it don't align with the parenting goals of the middle and upper classes. Middle/upper class values are now considered to be the default in U.S. society, whereas it used to be working class values.

 

[cow451]

A swat on the behind or a smack on the hand when it reaches for a hot pot on the stove is not wrong.
But then, I think progressives probably should have been spanked, or at least told "no!" every now and then.

Nearly everybody in prison was spanked as child as well. See how well it works!

 

[nightflight]

I understand your logic to be: "People who disagrees with me do so because they have not been properly spanked"
Is this how you see it?

Partly, yeah.

 

[cow451]

And how many government agencies do you want created or involved in policing American parents to make sure no child is smacked behind?

I don't see any posters advocating creation of any agencies or doing anything drastic. Anyone that has studied human behavior and child development already knew the scoop on spanking. Nutcases like Dr. James Dobson notwithstanding.

 

[nightflight]

Nearly everybody in prison was spanked as child as well. See how well it works!

You mean the ones who's fathers stuck around?

 

[The Cadet]

And how many government agencies do you want created or involved in policing American parents to make sure no child is smacked behind?

I think the existing agencies are perfectly sufficient, personally - CPS and the police department.

 

[Sistrin]

I think the existing agencies are perfectly sufficient, personally - CPS and the police department.

Yeah, CPS.

A couple of years ago I went into our local YMCA to teach my son how to swim. Outside the doors they had stuck little heart shaped flags in the ground, each one representing a "reported case of child abuse." I asked the people working behind the counter if any of them knew how many of those flags represented actual cases of child abuse as opposed to someone only making a claim. They, of course, had no idea. And became near violently angry I would even dare ask.

Far too often CPS sticks their nose where they have no business based on some zealot making a phone call. It is the non-police equivalent to swatting.

 

[Nithavela]

And how many government agencies do you want created or involved in policing American parents to make sure no child is smacked behind?

I think that the CPS is sufficient.

 

[Nithavela]

Partly, yeah.

What's the other part?

 

[The Cadet]

Yeah, CPS.

A couple of years ago I went into our local YMCA to teach my son how to swim. Outside the doors they had stuck little heart shaped flags in the ground, each one representing a "reported case of child abuse." I asked the people working behind the counter if any of them knew how many of those flags represented actual cases of child abuse as opposed to someone only making a claim. They, of course, had no idea. And became near violently angry I would even dare ask.

Far too often CPS sticks their nose where they have no business based on some zealot making a phone call. It is the non-police equivalent to swatting.

Your immense distrust of CPS is noted and not entirely baseless. This doesn't mean it is without merit or that we need a different organization to deal with this issue.