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WHAT SPANKING DOES FOR KIDS
WHAT SPANKING DOES FOR KIDS
From Irwin A. Hyman, The Case Against Spanking: How to Discipline Your Child Without Hitting, (1997), pp. 58-62. Dr. Hyman is director of the National Center for Study of Corporal Punishment and Alternatives and professor of school psychology at Temple University. He has made numerous appearances on national television shows such as Oprah, Good Morning America, and the Today show. ... .... While the prospankers interpret the lack of research on the harmful effects of spanking with preschoolers as proof that it is OK, I disagree and maintain that there is no reason to ever hit a child. My summary of the research and the clinical experience of over 30 years follows: * Corporal punishment should not be used in schools, since there is convincing evidence that it is a significant contributing factor to emotional, legal and social problems. * Frequent and harsh spanking is consistently found to be present in the lives of boys who are aggressive and disobedient, who lie, cheat, are destructive with their own and others' belongings, and who associate with friends prone to delinquency. * Frequent and harsh spankings can cause young children to bottle up their feelings of fear, anger, and hostility. In later life these children are unusually prone to suicidal thoughts, suicide, and depression. * Despite the age or gender of the child, the family's social class or ethnicity, whether the child was hit frequently or rarely, severely or mildly, whether there were high or low levels of interaction and affection in the home, and regardless of the degree to which specific situational variables may have mitigated the effects of the punishment, spanking consistently contributes to lowered self-esteem. * In toddlers, many punitive approaches, including spanking, do not result in compliance, but end simply with the administration of punishment. (Studies show that preschoolers who are hit are more likely to be more impulsive and aggressive than those who are not spanked. Furthermore, toddlers can be taught, using behavioral techniques such as associating their word for pain with the street or electrical outlets, to avoid those dangerous situations. Childproofing the house and monitoring toddlers will avoid the so-called necessity of spanking to teach children to avoid danger.) * Children who are physically punished are more likely to grow up approving of it and using it to settle interpersonal conflicts. Even children who have experienced "normal" spankings are almost three times as likely to seriously assault a sibling, compared to children who were not physically disciplined. * Contrary to popular belief, studies of corporal punishment in schools indicate that it is not used as a last resort. In fact, it is too often the first punishment for nonviolent and minor misbehaviors. Beatings for minor misbehaviors can cause many stress symptoms in children. * Younger children are hit most often; spanking slowly decreases until late adolescence. This contributes to feelings of helplessness, and resentment that may lead to withdrawal or aggression toward caregivers. * Boys are hit much more frequently than girls, thereby sustaining sexual stereotypes. * In schools, minority and poor white children receive "lickings" four to five times more frequently than middle- and upper-class white children. This contributes to racism and classism in our society. * Regional comparisons show that the highest proportion of corporal punishment in America occurs in states of the South and Southwest. Florida, Arkansas and Alabama have consistently been among the leaders in the frequency of hitting schoolchildren. It is unreasonable and unfair that children's location should determine the degree to which they may be legally victimized. * Corporally punished schoolchildren, especially those with emotional and academic disabilities, have suffered all types of injuries including welts, hematomas, damage to almost all external and many internal body parts, and death. * Studies demonstrate that eliminating corporal punishment does not increase misbehavior in home or school. Systematic use of positive alternatives, however, has been shown to decrease misbehavior significantly. ... http://www.nospank.net/hyman2.htm |
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