Comments on: To spank or not to spank? Study says early spankings make for aggressive toddlers

By: PDeverit

PDeverit — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:01:30 +0000

Child buttock-battering vs. DISCIPLINE:

Child buttock-battering for the purpose of gaining compliance is nothing more than an inherited bad habit.

Its a good idea for people to take a look at what they are doing, and learn how to DISCIPLINE instead of hit.

I think the reason why television shows like “Supernanny” and “Dr. Phil” are so popular is because that is precisely what many (not all) people are trying to do.

There are several reasons why child bottom-slapping isn’t a good idea. Here are some good, quick reads recommended by professionals:

Plain Talk About Spanking
by Jordan Riak,

The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Children
by Tom Johnson,

NO VITAL ORGANS THERE, So They Say
by Lesli Taylor M.D. and Adah Maurer Ph.D.

Most compelling of all reasons to abandon this worst of all bad habits is the fact that buttock-battering can be unintentional sexual abuse for some children. There is an abundance of educational resources, testimony, documentation, etc available on the subject that can easily be found by doing a little research with the recommended reads-visit http://www.nospank.net.

Just a handful of those helping to raise awareness of why child bottom-slapping isn’t a good idea:

American Academy of Pediatrics,
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
Center For Effective Discipline,
PsycHealth Ltd Behavioral Health Professionals,
Churches’ Network For Non-Violence,
Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Parenting In Jesus’ Footsteps,
Global Initiative To End All Corporal Punishment of Children,
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In 26 countries, child corporal punishment is prohibited by law (with more in process). In fact, the US was the only UN member that did not ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:51:13 +0000

Thanks so much for discussing spanking. I was about to comment on how I think punishment is important to teach children about consequences, but in writing my response I started thinking about how I would handle a similar situation with an adult. The fact of the matter is children, in their own way, can comprehend consequences if they are explained thoroughly in terms they understand. You might tell an adult how their poor behavior choices affected your or someone else in a negative way, and in the same manner, you can explain to your child how something they did has hurt someone else or created a bigger problem.
I have consistently put my 3 year old daughter(she has only been mischievous since turning two) on time out (to no avail)and have recently considered calmly spanking her once to enforce boundaries, but this discussion has encouraged me to think differently about my particular situation. We want to encourage respect from our daughter and believe that she deserves that same respect, but when considering discipline, I guess we never thought of it as a lack of respect. If my husband spanked me for throwing water out of the bathtub, I would see it as a lack of respect on both parts; and of course, one only encouraging the other. It definitely proves how cyclical the spanking and poor behavior can be. Thank you,crunchydomesticgoddess!

By: Physical Punishment is Ineffective and Harmful | Mama 2 Mama Tips

Physical Punishment is Ineffective and Harmful | Mama 2 Mama Tips — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:42:06 +0000

[...] discipline does not need to involve physical punishment for children. Recent studies have shown a direct link between physical punishment and several negative developmental outcomes [...]

By: Crunchy Domestic Goddess

Crunchy Domestic Goddess — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:58:07 +0000

I included it because it seemed like a relevant part of information about the study since they only included “low income” families. I’m not suggesting that excessive spanking is related to class. Unfortunately, I think it happens in low, middle and high income families.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:30:58 +0000

Is there a reason you chose to include “low income” in your introductory statement. Is that relevant to any other point? Just curious if you were trying to say something about instances of excessive spanking being related to class…. Thanks.

By: Jennifer Dodd

Jennifer Dodd — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:26:17 +0000

My favourite is a parent who spanks their child for hitting another child. Slightly hypocritical? Spanking your child just makes them think it’s OK for a bigger person to take aggression on a littler person.

I’m wondering how the 3.5 your old child who made the colossal mess of the living room was even able to create such a mess. Where was the mom when it was happening? Did she not notice the child took chocolate syrup out of the fridge? I’m not sure that a 3.5 year old should be left to their own devices for such a period of time, and that perhaps if they were being supervised, it wouldn’t have happened.