Just some food for thought...this was posted this morning on yahoo.ca and it reminded me of the spaking debate thread. There are links to some interesting evidence based research. Thought some of you may be interested. I'm sure there are studies out there that suggest that spanking is a positive form of discipline, so if you know of any please post them! The idea of posting this is not to disparage anyones parenting choices, just to inspire some fresh thoughts both for and against spanking.
The great spanking debate is back on (as if debate over North America's most controversial discipline method ever took a time out). The publication in the medical journal Pediatrics of what is being heralded as the most powerful proof to date that spanking leads to aggressive behavior has reignited the spanking debate both on- and off-line.
The journal states that "children who are spanked frequently at age 3 are more likely to be aggressive when they're 5, even when you account for possible confounding factors," according to a study.
Of course, this study is just the latest in a long line of studies to give spanking the thumbs down. Two studies conducted by researchers at Duke University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Auburn University, and Indiana University and published in the September/October 2009 issue of Child Development concluded that when parents use physical discipline throughout childhood, their children experience more behaviour problems during adolescence. And then there was this study linking spanking to a lower IQ.
And good old-fashioned common sense also argues against spanking as anything approaching an effective discipline tool. Discipline is, after all, supposed to be about teaching. Hitting someone doesn't teach a child anything at all. If using pain and fear were an effective method of teaching, our computers would be wired with electric shocks to zap us each time we made a typo, the theory being that we'd the fear of being zapped would motivate us to improve our typing accuracy overnight. (A more likely outcome would be that we'd abandon our keyboards.)
So how can you tell the difference between an effective discipline method and one that is merely masquerading as such? Here's an excerpt from a handout from one of my recent parenting workshops that tackles this exact question.
You know you've come across a win-win discipline method (a method that works well for both you and your child) if that discipline method....
You don't have to be a scientist (rocket or otherwise) to see that spanking simply doesn't measure up.
So what's your take? Do you think spanking is passé? Should we be treating it as a thing of the past and moving on to other discipline methods? How do you react when other people spank their kids in front of you? Or, if you're the one doing the spanking, are people more inclined to say something to you if you're spanking your kids these days (as compared to a few years ago)?
The great spanking debate is back on (as if debate over North America's most controversial discipline method ever took a time out). The publication in the medical journal Pediatrics of what is being heralded as the most powerful proof to date that spanking leads to aggressive behavior has reignited the spanking debate both on- and off-line.
The journal states that "children who are spanked frequently at age 3 are more likely to be aggressive when they're 5, even when you account for possible confounding factors," according to a study.
Of course, this study is just the latest in a long line of studies to give spanking the thumbs down. Two studies conducted by researchers at Duke University, Oklahoma State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Auburn University, and Indiana University and published in the September/October 2009 issue of Child Development concluded that when parents use physical discipline throughout childhood, their children experience more behaviour problems during adolescence. And then there was this study linking spanking to a lower IQ.
And good old-fashioned common sense also argues against spanking as anything approaching an effective discipline tool. Discipline is, after all, supposed to be about teaching. Hitting someone doesn't teach a child anything at all. If using pain and fear were an effective method of teaching, our computers would be wired with electric shocks to zap us each time we made a typo, the theory being that we'd the fear of being zapped would motivate us to improve our typing accuracy overnight. (A more likely outcome would be that we'd abandon our keyboards.)
So how can you tell the difference between an effective discipline method and one that is merely masquerading as such? Here's an excerpt from a handout from one of my recent parenting workshops that tackles this exact question.
You know you've come across a win-win discipline method (a method that works well for both you and your child) if that discipline method....
- is suited to your child's developmental stage and temperament
- is compatible with your parenting style
- is fair and reasonable
- can be implemented quickly and easily (including when you're out-and-about with your child)
- is designed to help your child learn to make better decisions in the future (as opposed to merely punishing your child for the current incident of misbehaviour)
- promotes and models respect by treating your child with respect (as opposed to embarrassing, humiliating, or degrading your child)
- encourages the desired behaviour while making the undesirable behaviour less appealing
- leaves your child feeling good about himself and you feeling good about yourself as a parent; and builds upon the parent-child bond.
So what's your take? Do you think spanking is passé? Should we be treating it as a thing of the past and moving on to other discipline methods? How do you react when other people spank their kids in front of you? Or, if you're the one doing the spanking, are people more inclined to say something to you if you're spanking your kids these days (as compared to a few years ago)?