Posted on 11/15/2005 9:56:55 AM PST by Millee
Children who are spanked are more likely to be anxious and aggressive than children who are disciplined in other ways, according to researchers in six countries.
The study grew out of controversy over whether parents should use physical discipline. Some experts argue it should never be used because it creates child behavior problems and might escalate into physical abuse. Others argue that the effects of discipline depend on characteristics of children and families and the circumstances in which physical discipline is used, according to a news release about the study.
So researchers from Duke University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Geteborg University in Sweden, the University of Naples, the University of Rome and the Istituto Universitario di Scienze Motorie in Italy, Chiang Mai University in Thailand, the University of Delhi in India, the University of Oregon and California State University-Long Beach questioned 336 mothers and their children in China, India, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines and Thailand.
They asked mothers about how often they physically disciplined their children, how that compared to others in their nation, and how often the child worries, gets in fights or bullies others.The researchers found differences in how often mothers used physical discipline and the mothers' perceptions of how often other parents used physical discipline.
In countries in which physical discipline was more common, children who were physically disciplined were less aggressive and less anxious than children who were physically disciplined in countries where physical discipline was rarely used.
In all countries, however, higher use of physical discipline was associated with more child aggression and anxiety.
Mothers in Thailand were least likely to physically discipline their children; those in Kenya were most likely to physically discipline their children.
If spanking causes child aggression, then obviously you aren't spanking them enough. /sarc :o)
My question is - since the move away from corporal punishment, have children behaved better or worse?
It's been my experience that anxiety is a good thing, especially for children, because it serves as a motivating force.
My parents used spanking, and liberally. I was one of "those" kids. I didn't respond to anything else.
I also have NEVER been involved in an act of "violence" as an adult. Unless you count spanking my own kids. I have two girls. They are 16 and 13. Now, the oldest got spanked last when she was 8. The youngest saw that spanking happen. My youngest has NEVER gotten so much as a swat. She doesn't want to screw up and get what her sister got.
Not that I could do it now anyway. They are both built like fully grown women already and it would just be creepy.
Well, duh. If you spank the well-behaved ones, it really confuses them.
"Children who are spanked are more likely to be anxious and aggressive than children who are disciplined in other ways, according to researchers in six countries. "
Parents who don't use physical discipline were more likely to need tranquilizers! (kidding).
Guess what? A little aggression isn't a bad thing. Ask the French. I was physically disciplined, and I used corporal punishment on my kids, especially around the terrible twos.
As with most things liberal, there is the law of unintended consequences. I would hold France up as a prime example, I bet they don't spank there.
Dr. Spock floated this in the 60's, it was proven to be a failed approach in the 1990's and now looks like it is trying to come back.
Oh that's nice.
It feels like this BS study has been released a million times before.
So far (she's four) all I have to do is look at my daughter cross-eyed & she's reduced to tears (luckily). But I got some swats when I was kid (deservedly) and I turned out okay. Well......
Yea, right.. what a load of bunk. You think that maybe, just maybe the societies in question are more violent across the board and spanking is not a cause?
What a bunch of hogwash.
Brazil is still the wild west in large sections, is that because their parents beat them regularly? Or simply because it has isolated sections where no official law exists?
Spanking used properly is a very effective disciplinary tool... and if it is used properly and at the right age, guess what you only have to do it a few times and you'll never have to do it again.
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
"Spare the Rod and Spoil the Moral Zealot." Corpun.com
Notice the methodology used here. They asked mothers for their opinions. Verrry scientific.
One things folks don't get about spanking is WHEN to do it. You don't wait til you've told Little Darling to stop 15 times and you are at your wits end. My kids usually received one warning. ONE. If they persisted in doing whatever it was they were deliberately disobeying me. That behavior received a spanking. Because I didn't wait, I wasn't frustrated or angry. It was punishment not me taking out my aggression on a little child.
That's my take anyways. And it's worked for us.
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