To Spank or Not to Spank. Is That the Question?
It doesn't matter what the results from a 50-year study reveal, because humans always have and always will think that they know what is best for their kids. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's look at this groundbreaking study's results.
The Journal of Family Psychology, which is a publication of the American Psychological Association has compiled 50 years of research on the subject of spanking children. Spanking, as defined by this study is "an open-handed hit on the behind or extremities." Over 161,000 children (and of course their parents and family situations) were included in the study and the conclusions drawn by researchers are stunning. But to me, not really unexpected.
Overwhelmingly it was discovered that not only does spanking not work as a disciplinary measure, it can cause a wide range of the same sort of issues caused by child abuse, like "cognitive difficulties and anti-social behavior", aggression and mental health problems, according to one of the study's co-authors.
Despite these revealing and disturbing conclusions, surveys as recent as 2013 (NBC News poll) indicate that a wide majority of Americans think spanking is "sometimes appropriate" discipline. A 2014 UNICEF report divulged that 80% of parents around the world continue to spank their children.
Researchers explain that there is little evidence of spanking producing positive results, but abundant confirmation of the exact opposite. They conclude the reason spanking still proliferates society is not not because it works, but because the cycle propagates itself (as does child abuse); adults who were spanked as children, continue to spank their own children to the detriment of humanity as a whole.
Food for thought?
(Sources include Journal of Family Psychology, Science Daily and the University of Texas)
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