Spanking kids can cause long-term harm: Canada study

[SteveMcGarrett]

TORONTO (Reuters) - Spanking children can cause long-term developmental damage and may even lower a child's IQ, according to a new Canadian analysis that seeks to shift the ethical debate over corporal punishment into the medical sphere.

The study, published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, reached its conclusion after examining 20 years of published research on the issue. The authors say the medical finding have been largely overlooked and overshadowed by concerns that parents should have the right to determine how their children are disciplined.

While spanking is certainly not as widespread as it was 20 years ago, many still cling to the practice and see prohibiting spanking as limiting the rights of parents.

That point of view highlights the difficulty in changing hearts and minds on the issue, despite a mountain of accumulated evidence showing the damage physical punishment can have on a child, says Joan Durant, a professor at University of Manitoba and one of the authors of the study.

Spanking kids can cause long-term harm: Canada study

Thats why you cant spank your kids anymore,,Besides its against the law now. If you see anyone spanking a child anywhere just call the police! Even my pal Danny Williams almost made an arrest on an episode on five-0.

 

[PowerON]

It's misled.

I'm saying it's depend how much level the parents are give spanking on their kids. If it's very abuse then yes, it's high chance their kids become something you can't imagine.

 

[Steinhauer]

Abuse is illegal, spanking is not.

 

[AlleyCat]

Even my pal Danny Williams almost made an arrest on an episode on five-0.

Um.

Your pal on an episode?

You do know this is real life, and not a TV show?

 

[Cheetah]

Abuse is illegal, spanking is not.

True, but there is a fine line between spanking and abuse. I'm not sure there is consensus as to where that line is.

 

[frankiesmom]

i have 7 children and i spanked them all. except for my poor francis, they are all honor roll students, and my oldest is in the navy.
i love my kids but sometimes you have to bust that ass!

 

[kokonut]

Yep...

 

[Steinhauer]

The only time I was spanked was when I showed flat out disrespect or I lied. I was grounded when I wouldn't complete chores or didn't do homework.

I didn't turn into a pimp, a hooker, or a stripper.

 

[JabberJay]

The only time I was spanked was when I showed flat out disrespect or I lied. I was grounded when I wouldn't complete chores or didn't do homework.

I didn't turn into a pimp, a hooker, or a stripper.

My life is pretty much the same, and I would like to argue that possibly people who were spanked have a higher IQ and common sense!
A lot of the kids I graduated with weren't spanked. Out of everyone the kids who were spanked accomplished more than the ones who weren't. But that's a very small sample size of 33 kids. we're all 24 this year and this is where we ended up.

25 spanked as kids => all college or other forms of post secondary education. 1 while with child and is due this march. 3 married and 4 engaged. 20 have good jobs, 3 are in university still, 2 are out of work with previous good jobs. 2 still living with parents.

8 not spanked=> 3 with kids a year after highschool, 5 still living with parents , 2 in jail for domestic abuse, 7 never went to college or any post secondary education. 4 married, 1 is a single drug addicted mother of 3 girls with different fathers and no clue which daddys are the real ones.

My views are heavily influenced by personal experience.

 

[DeafCaroline]

My life is pretty much the same, and I would like to argue that possibly people who were spanked have a higher IQ and common sense!
A lot of the kids I graduated with weren't spanked. Out of everyone the kids who were spanked accomplished more than the ones who weren't. But that's a very small sample size of 33 kids. we're all 24 this year and this is where we ended up.

25 spanked as kids => all college or other forms of post secondary education. 1 while with child and is due this march. 3 married and 4 engaged. 20 have good jobs, 3 are in university still, 2 are out of work with previous good jobs. 2 still living with parents.

8 not spanked=> 3 with kids a year after highschool, 5 still living with parents , 2 in jail for domestic abuse, 7 never went to college or any post secondary education. 4 married, 1 is a single drug addicted mother of 3 girls with different fathers and no clue which daddys are the real ones.

My views are heavily influenced by personal experience.

Ok everybody, spank the heck out of your kids so they'll have a high IQ. Heck, beat the crap out of them and they'll be geniuses.

 

[JabberJay]

Ok everybody, spank the heck out of your kids so they'll have a high IQ. Heck, beat the crap out of them and they'll be geniuses.

there's a difference between a spanking and a beating.
One shouldn't hurt that much and the other is illegal and dangerious

 

[DeafCaroline]

there's a difference between a spanking and a beating.
One shouldn't hurt that much and the other is illegal and dangerious

I think adults should only hit those their own size, not someone small and defenseless.

 

[JabberJay]

I think adults should only hit those their own size, not someone small and defenseless.

normally I would agree with you on that point but when everything else fails I would rather tap my kid on the ass than to have a brat who is out of control.

I would consider spanking a less of 2 evils.

edit, either that or send them to army boot camp for the summer and prey that will straighten them out.

 

[DeafCaroline]

normally I would agree with you on that point but when everything else fails I would rather tap my kid on the ass than to have a brat who is out of control.

I would consider spanking a less of 2 evils.

Believe it or not, there are ways to discipline other than spanking. And they tend to be far more effective.

 

[JabberJay]

Believe it or not, there are ways to discipline other than spanking. And they tend to be far more effective.

I would love to see them in action working. I too often see first hand the damage done by kids not taking the punishment seriously or the parents not following through on the punishment.

But I will honestly say I would try everything I could find first before spanking.

 

[DeafCaroline]

I would love to see them in action working. I too often see first hand the damage done by kids not taking the punishment seriously or the parents not following through on the punishment.

But I will honestly say I would try everything I could find first before spanking.

They do work. My kids are very respectful, only acted like brats in public just once but I swiftly dealt with that, no spanking required, and they are doing very well in school.

Spanking is a sign of weakness on the parents' part.

 

[JabberJay]

They do work. My kids are very respectful, only acted like brats in public just once but I swiftly dealt with that, no spanking required, and they are doing very well in school.

Spanking is a sign of weakness on the parents' part.

I always thought that a misbehaving kid in public was a sign of weakness of the parent.

What ever works for your kids will work for your kids and even some other kids. I congratulate you on having well behaved kids, but each kid is different. The kid down the road may need a different form of punishment before he'll behave.

 

[sallylou]

Wirelessly posted (droid)

It's not the best parenting practice. Parents resort to it out of ineffectiveness and frustration. Positive enforcement works. Some people use choke collars to train dogs but I use liver. Kids aren't dogs, of course, but kids respond better to positive reinforcement. If all a parent is doing is punishing bad behavior, they aren't teaching how to act. The kid just learns to avoid punishment. Most importantly, parents are role models for their kids. Kids learn to by watching parents. If you're having trouble with a kid, examine how you're contributing to the problem. Set your kid up for success. It works.

 

[JabberJay]

How about using positive reinforcement with punishment as well?
I think kids should be praised for when they do well, but at the same time realizing that actions have real consequences. Some kids don't take time out seriously.

They get praise and such when they are good, like what is supposed to happen in the real world. And punishment for when they do bad, just like in the real world.

Parents are supposed to raise kids that can cope in the real world, why bubble wrap them so their first form of punishment is a failed college course or arrest? I would rather have them cry over the injustice of a childhood punishment than a criminal record.

 

[JabberJay]

yeah a kid could be reacting to something the parents or environment is contributing to and it would be very beneficial to work with your kid to help them resolve the issue or learn to deal with the issue but sometimes that can't be done. The brain of a kid is not fully developed and sometimes they can't see reason.
Sometimes they only see what they want and the fact that they can't get it.