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 | "...the use of corporal punishment in schools is intrinsically related to child maltreatment. It contributes to a climate of violence, it implies that society approves of the physical violation of children, it establishes an unhealthy norm...Its outright abolition throughout the nation must occur immediately." - U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1991-SEP-15 |
| "The fundamental need of American education is to find ways of engaging today's children in the thrill of learning. Fear of pain has no place in that process." The Christian Science Monitor, 1989-MAR-21 |
Topics in this essay:
| The case against spanking |
| United Nations convention on the rights of the child |
| Useful books |
| References |
The case against spanking:
There are many arguments against spanking:
| It is ineffective: Spanking a child will stop the child from misbehaving for the moment, but studies have shown that the child's compliance will only last for a short time; corporal punishment actually increases the child's non-compliant behavior in the future. Psychologist H. Stephen Glenn said "Corporal punishment is the least effective method [of discipline]. Punishment reinforces a failure identity. It reinforces rebellion, resistance, revenge and resentment. And, what people who spank children will learn is that it teaches more about you than it does about them that the whole goal is to crush the child. It's not dignified, and it's not respectful." 1 | ||||||||||
| It may trigger criminal, anti-social, violent, aggressive behavior later in life: A longitudinal study of 442 boys born in 1972, found that one out of every three boys -- those who have a specific version of a gene -- who was maltreated during childhood will be almost certain to exhibit anti-social or criminal behavior as an adult. Maltreatment was defined as including physical abuse. If this is true for boys subjected to physical abuse, one wonders if the violence associated with conventional levels of corporal punishment could also trigger violent or aggressive behavior later in life? Unfortunately, the study is recent, and researchers do not yet know what level of violence is needed to trigger the negative adult behavior. It can be argued that, in the absence of precise data, parents should err on the side of caution and avoid spanking at all costs. More details | ||||||||||
| It has been linked to many adult problems. Corporal punishment studies have linked spanking during childhood to higher levels of adult depression, psychiatric problems, and addictions. Another study shows that children who were spanked have a lower IQ when compared to children whose parents used other methods of discipline and control. | ||||||||||
| It can escalate to abuse: Because a spanking works for a while, the parent often repeats the spanking whenever the child misbehaves. Corporal punishment may then become a standard response to any misbehavior. This can lead to increasingly frequent and harsher spanking which can exceed the "reasonable force" threshold and become abuse. According to the Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse, "85% of all cases of physical abuse result from some form of over-discipline through the use of corporal punishment". Each year about 44 Canadian children are known to have been killed by family members; 35 of them by parents. The figures for the United States are probably about 10 times higher. | ||||||||||
| It can unintentionally cause serious physical damage:
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| It trains a child to use violence: Spanking can teach children that it is acceptable for the strong to use force against the weak -- the concept "Might makes right" is regularly reinforced. They have an increased likelihood of becoming more aggressive towards their siblings, their fellow students, and (later in life) against their spouses and their own children. Violence as a way of behaving is a learned response. | ||||||||||
| Slapping or any other type of force used on the buttocks is a sexual violation: The buttocks are an erogenous zone of the human body. Their nerve system is connected to the body's sexual nerve centers. Slapping them can involuntarily trigger feelings of sexual pleasure which become mixed with the pain. This can lead to confusion in the child's mind which influences the way in which they express their sexuality as adults. | ||||||||||
| Spanking lowers a child's IQ: A study at the University of New Hampshire, released in 1998-JUL, found that spanking children apparently slows down their intellectual development. 3 A study of 960 children found an average 4 point reduction in IQ among students, from and average IQ of 102 (above average) for children who are not spanked, to an average IQ 98 (below average) for who are. A reduction of 4 points is enough to have a significant negative functional effect on the students. More information | ||||||||||
| Spanking creates fear in the child: "The message a toddler gets from a slap or spanking is that a parent or other loved and trusted adult is prepared to induce pain and even do physical harm to force unquestioning obedience. That's terrifying to a little kid...However well-intentioned, a slap registers as the shattering of the whole deal between parent and child. Young children are left awash in feelings of fear, shame, rage, hostility, self-destructiveness and betrayal that they can't yet resolve or manage." 2 |
Sponsored link:
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
All but one of the federal governments who are members of the United Nations have signed it. The lone holdout is the United States.
The Convention defines a child as any "human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier."
Article 19:
"States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and
education measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence,
injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including
sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who
has the care of the child. Such protective measures should, as appropriate, include
effective procedures for the establishment of social programs to provide necessary support
for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as for other forms of
prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and
follow-up of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore, and, as appropriate,
for judicial involvement."
Useful Books.
These books recommend discipline techniques other than spanking:
| Elizabeth Crary, "Without spanking or spoiling: a practical approach to toddler and preschool guidance," Parenting Press (1993). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online bookstore |
| R.L. Forehand & Nicholas Long, "parenting the strong-willed child: The clinically proven five-week program for parents of two to six year-olds," NTC. Review/order this book |
| Philip Greven, Spare the Child: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the
Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., (1990). Review/order
this book An excerpt:
|
| I.A. Hyman, "The case against spanking: How to discipline your child without hitting," Jossey-Bass Publishers (1997) Review/order this book |
| M.M. Lefkowitz et al, Growing up to be violent: A longitudinal Study of the Development of Aggression, Pergamon Press, New York, NY (1977). This describes one of the few longitudinal studies that have been done. |
| William & Martha Sears, "The Discipline Book: How to Have a Better-Behaved Child From Birth to Age Ten," Little Bropwn & Company, Review/order this book |
| J.Q. Wilson & R.J. Herrnstein, Crime and Human Nature Simon and Schuster, New York, NY (1986). As of 1999-SEP, is available at Barns and Noble for $116 |
| Jerry Wychoff, et al., "Discipline without shouting or spanking: Practical solutions to the most common preschool behavior problems," Simon & Schuster, (1985) Review/order this book |
Associated essay on this web site:
Open letter to President Clinton on school spanking
References used:
- J.K. Ni, "Spanking denounced as ineffective, harmful -- Expert at 'Families Alive' [conference] urges positive discipline," Deseret News, 1998-MAY-9, at: http://nospank.org/n-c31.htm
- Irvin Wolkoff, "Spanked child can become self-loathing adult," The Toronto Star, 1999-NOV-26, Page F4.
- Jane Gadd, "Spanked children suffer intellectually," The Globe and Mail, Toronto ON, 1998-JUL-30
Internet sources of information:
| Robert G. Ingersoll, a famous freethinker from the 19th Century
wrote an article "Is Corporal Punishment Degrading? in response to an article
in the American Review, 1891-DEC. See: http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/ |
| The Center for Effective Discipline (CED) "provides educational information to the public on the effects of corporal punishment of children and alternatives to its use." See: http://www.stophitting.com/ They coordinate two organizations: NCACPS (National Coalition to Abolish Corporal Punishment in Schools) and EPOCH-USA (End Physical Punishment of Children). They sponsor a "SpankOut Day, USA" at the end of Child Abuse Prevention Month (April) each year. |
| The No Spanking Page has an amazingly complete collection of "anti-spanking" material is at: http://www.cei.net/~rcox/nospan.html |
| Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE) is a non-profit organization promoting zero-tolerance for assault and battery against children since 1978. They have a website "Project NoSpank" which contains many links. See: http://silcon.com/~ptave Included is an essay by by Tom Johnson: "The Sexual Dangers of Spanking children" at: http://silcon.com/~ptave/sexdngr.htm |
| Parenttime magazine has a column called "Your Growing Child. One issue dealt with spanking: http://www.pathfinder.com |
| End Physical Punishment of Children (EPOCH) has a web page at: http://www.stophitting.com/EPOCH.html |
| Parent's Place, the Parenting Resource Center on the Web"™ has book reviews, discussions of selected parenting topics, and which encourages sharing amongst parents. They are at: http://www.parentsplace.com/ |
| Kathryn Kvols, President of the International Network for Children and Families has a site promoting "9 Things to do Instead of Spanking" at: http://www.positiveparenting.com/nospank.html |
| Jan Hunt of The Natural Child Project has written an essay: "Ten Reasons Not to Hit Your Kids" at http://www.naturalchild.com/jan_hunt/tenreasons.html |
| Parent Soup, "We have found that in the Christian community not spanking is a real issue," http://www.parentsoup.com/experts/sears/DJuly11.html |
| The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes the physical punishment of children in school. See: http://www.aap.org/advocacy/wwestand.htm |
| Parents Centres New Zealand, Inc, "Discipline," at: http://www.parentscentre.org.nz/ |
| M.A. Straus, "Demystifying the defenses of corporal punishment," at: http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CP64E.pdf Dr. Straus, an opponent of spanking, cuts a wide swath through traditional rationales for corporal punishment. |
Copyright © 1995 to 2002 incl. by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Extracted from the original essay on spanking on
2001-AUG-23
Latest update: 2002-APR-11
Author: B.A. Robinson
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