Spanking Doesn’t Work.
Show of hands- How many of you were hit as a kid? Spanked, hit with a belt, anything like that? Probably a good majority of people have- it’s an incredibly common form of parenting. Parents who do it think the child associates the wrongdoing with the pain, and thus believe that hitting their kid is an effective teaching tool.
Frank Elgar- a professor of Health and Social Policy at McGill University- did a study of over 400,000 children, teens, and young adults across 88 countries. Of the countries included in the study, 30 have banned corporal punishment completely, 20 have no regulations whatsoever, and the rest have varying ranges in laws.
The rates of fighting among adolescents in countries where corporal punishment was completely illegal were substantially lower than in the countries with no bans in place: by 69 percent for adolescent AMABS and 42 percent less for AFABs.
The other 38 countries in the study — which include the United States, Canada, and the U.K. — have partial bans, in schools only. In those countries, adolescent AFABs showed a 56 percent lower rate of physical fighting, with no change among AMABs.
It should be noted that although correlation does not equal causation, this information is substantial enough that it cannot be ignored. In countries where adults are permitted to harm children, the children themselves become more violent as well.
But this isn’t the only thing that can come as a result of spanking or physically hitting your child.
Elizabeth Gershoff, professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas, has been studying the effects of corporal punishment on children for over twenty years, and in 2016 released a meta analysis of over 50 years of data with the help of a colleague. Her conclusion?
Corporal punishment is not effective, and in fact is psychologically damaging to children.
“The findings were consistently negative,” she said. Although spanking is traditionally supposed to teach a lesson to correct bad behavior, children who were spanked were neither more compliant nor better behaved.
In fact, regardless of gender, it was found that spanking was linked to more aggression, more bad behavior, more mental health problems, worse relationships with parents, and putting the children at higher risk for physical abuse from their parents.
This was from a pool of over 160,000 children.
“People often ask: Why didn’t you look for positive aspects?” Gershoff stated. “My answer is: We did, and there were none. We see consistently that the more children are spanked, the more behavioral problems they have in the years ahead.”
Because of the prevalence and the repercussions of corporal punishment, a number of human rights groups, including the United Nations, have condemned the practice of spanking and physical discipline. In 2006, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, or UNCRC, spelled out “the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment” and continues to recommend prohibition against corporal punishment of children.
There is absolutely no scientific justification for corporal punishment. None whatsoever. So.. Why is it still used? Psy do parents so often try to justify hitting their children? We’re all familiar with the phrase “I was spanked as a child and I turned out fine!”
No, Daryl, you didn’t. You believe violence is an effective form of parenting. You are the exact opposite of fine.
I have a theory as to why people continue to believe spanking your child is a valid parenting technique. It’s easy. Hitting your child takes a lot less emotional labor than sitting down with them and having a conversation about why calling the girl next door a mean name is a bad thing to do. It’s the same reason why parents constantly say “Because I say so”, or “Because I’m the parent and you are the child”.
I think a lot of modern parents, and even our parents, were pressured into having kids they didn’t want or weren’t ready for. So they relied on easy tactics. Lord your power over the child, make them afraid to disobey you. But that isn’t effective and we need to be honest about it.
When you look at the data, the harm that spanking and other forms of corporal punishment cause is almost indecipherable to the harm done by your standard corporal punishment. And the truth is because they’re one and the same.
Children need to be educated. They need support, guidance, and patience. These are pivotal to their healthy development. And they’re not getting it.
I’m not saying to coddle your kids. I’m saying stop taking the easy way out. Child constantly trying to touch a hot stove while you cook? Calmly but persistently take the child out of the room and separate them. Throwing a temper tantrum because of a change in the routine? Communicate with them ahead of time about the change so they feel informed and are less likely to throw a fit. Remember that kids are tiny people who don’t have any information about the real world.
When you have a child, you made a promise to that child that you will do your best to raise them in a healthy way. That’s what parenthood means. When you hit your kids, you admit you’ve failed. And that’s the truth.
There are articles in the description about the effects of spanking on children, myths about corporal punishment, and how to handle disciplining your kid without violence. Give them a read.
Stay informed everybody.
Chicago Tribune: The Effects Of Spanking: https://trib.in/2DG9XxY
Psychology Today: Don’t Spank your Kids: https://bit.ly/2DKKF21
Psychology Today: What Happens When You Hit Your Kids: https://bit.ly/2TPeeoG
Forbes: Spanking Doesn’t Work: https://bit.ly/2zkLMlV
Time Magazine: Why Spanking Doesn’t Work: https://bit.ly/1r4OClc
9 things you can do instead of spanking: https://bit.ly/2zpEAF0
