Spanking children can lead to problems later in life

[geronimotwo]

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080229/lf_nm_life/children_spanking_dc

Fri Feb 29, 1:02 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Parents who teach "tough love" by disciplining their children with spankings could be making them more likely to have sexual problems as teenagers and adults, a leading researcher said.

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Professor Murray Straus, of the University of New Hampshire, found that children who are spanked or experience other corporal punishment have a raised risk as teenagers and adults to verbally or physically coerce a partner into having sex.

"It's more evidence that parents should not spank if the wellbeing of their children is at stake," he said in an interview.

Straus analyzed the results of the International Dating Violence Study, a survey of more than 14,000 university students at 68 universities in 32 countries. The students were asked if they had been spanked or hit frequently before age 12 and if they had coerced a sexual partner in the previous 12 months.

Men who had experienced corporal punishment were four times more likely to physically coerce a partner into having sex, than those who had not experienced a lot of corporal punishment.

Physical coercion includes holding someone down or hitting them. Women who had experienced corporal punishment were also more likely to coerce sex from a partner than those who had not been spanked.

"People generalize that the use of coercion, physical coercion, is okay. They learn that from people they love and respect - their parents," said Straus, who presented the findings at a summit of the American Psychological Association.

Both men and women who had experienced corporal punishment as children were less than 10 percent more likely than those who had not been spanked to verbally coerce sex from a partner.

Straus said studies have shown that corporal punishment leads to low self control and self esteem, as well as aggressiveness, antisocial personalities and the understanding that violence is okay which may lead to sexual coercion.

He added that there are alternative ways to discipline children that work better and do not have side effects.

while i am a believer in teaching by example, wouldn't it seem likely that those with disciplinary problems early in their lives would continue to have "issues" later? ie, which came first the chicken or the egg?

[Perd Hapley]

    I probably should not even dignify that tripe with an emoticon. 

[Bogie]

Do you want your kids to be insufferable brats, who grow up to become insufferable asses?
 
A little ritualized humiliation (i.e., a swat that doesn't really hurt all that much) tends to drive the point home very well that Junior needs to adjust his attitude.

[Ryan in Maine]

Straus analyzed the results of the International Dating Violence Study, a survey of more than 14,000 university students at 68 universities in 32 countries.

There's your problem.

[Manedwolf]

I'd phrase it this way:

Would you rather they be spanked as a little kid when they act up, or shot as a young adult when they act up because they weren't ever spanked?

[Tallpine]

Women who had experienced corporal punishment were also more likely to coerce sex from a partner than those who had not been spanked.

Okay, so what's the problem ?   

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

 notice his biography fails to mention his kids.  its funny how cultures that don't spank kids have such great kids

[Perd Hapley]

So when my parent's spanked me, they did it to coerce me to have sex with them?  I guess I'll have bring those repressed memories to the surface. 

[lupinus]

Funny, it sure as hell worked well for thousands of years.

Guess now that we  are so enlightend folk these days, God forbid we use methods that we know work. 

Sitting Johnny in the corner does nothing but give him free time to plot *expletive deleted*it.

[nico]

correlation != causation

Any so called researcher who ignores this loses all credibility in my eyes.

[BlueStarLizzard]

where do these people come up with this stuff? 

[mtnbkr]

Sitting Johnny in the corner does nothing but give him free time to plot *expletive deleted*it.

I will say, for my daughter, a time-out is a greater deterrent than spanking.  Just the thread of a time-out is enough to make her stop the offending behavior.

Chris

[nico]

Sitting Johnny in the corner does nothing but give him free time to plot *expletive deleted*it.

I will say, for my daughter, a time-out is a greater deterrent than spanking.  Just the thread of a time-out is enough to make her stop the offending behavior.

Standing in the corner (I wasn't allowed to sit, touch the wall, or turn away from the corner) was a much more effective punishment for me than spanking.  With spanking, it was over in a minute.  Standing in the corner was a long, drawn out pain in the ass.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

different kids different strokes  my daughter has been spanked twice and shes 6 1/2 one smack on the ass each time and first one she was still in a diaper. she didn't like it and its still a deterrent. she is nothin like me is just naturally driven to do the right thing. some boys can be very different. for me the deal is not spanking when i'm angry. and of course not crying afterwards

[Tuco]

for me the deal is not spanking when i'm angry.

That's my opinion, also.
I try to minimize spanking, saving it for situations that require immediate compliance i.e. personal safety.
I hope my six year old never needs it again.


I was spanked regularly as a kid and even today it still pisses me off that the old f#<%er couldn't find a better way to deal with my inconvenience.
Bitter? 
Yea. 
Forgiveness?
Not today.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i gota watch how they react too. mt old man and i went at it  it escalated and i left real young when we started breaking bones. we both have bad temper and i would start stuff with him just to fight

[BridgeWalker]

I dunno.  I'll be the first to admit to some hippie tendencies when it comes to parenting, but I tend to stick to the common-sense things (homebirth is cheaper and more pleasant, non-cartoon-branded toys are less irritating, cloth diapers are cheaper and nicer, whereas organic clothing is just dumb, and organic food is an only slightly less dumb commercialized gimmick). 

When it comes to hitting, I'm pretty firmly in the anti camp.  Pretty atypical for me, I prefer more traditional approaches as a rule (see above).  But, I can't see the good in hitting kids.  I'm open to being convinced, because I'm rarely comfortable with rejecting tradition, but I've never found that being punished for something has has been the most effective way to help me develop in good ways. 

Maybe I just got hit or otherwise punished too much.  Maybe I'm weird.  But, I don't think that being hit did me any good, and I'm pretty sure it did me significant harm.  I very much doubt I'll hit my daughter.   

[Perd Hapley]

Hitting?   

[Stand_watie]

     Waterboarding is more effective and doesn't leave any marks.

[Declaration Day]

My parents spanked me until I was old enough to be reasoned with.  I did the same with my kids, and so far they've turned out just fine. 

I didn't "hit" them or "beat" them.  One swift, open-handed swat on the ass, when needed, did the trick.  It always came after a fair warning.

They're 11 and 13 now, and when told to stop misbehaving, they stop immediately and reply with a respectful "Yes, dad."

I have some hippy-ish cousins who don't spank their kids.  They also treat them nearly as equals, meaning there's very little assertion of authority in their home.  While the kids are generally good, they have to be told a dozen times to stop misbehaving before they even consider listening.  They seem happy with that, and that's fine, but it doesn't fly in my home.  When my family visits and their kids act up, I won't hesitate to say "Discipline your kids or I will." 

[Iain]

Just the thread of a time-out is enough to make her stop the offending behavior.
Chris

Which time out threads do you make her read on APS? I'd go with the gold standard ones.

[mtnbkr]

lmao! @ Iain.

Chris

[lupinus]

I will say, for my daughter, a time-out is a greater deterrent than spanking.  Just the thread of a time-out is enough to make her stop the offending behavior.

Not saying it can't work.  Does fine for plenty kids.

But it's hard to discount the effect a well timed smack upside the head.

[Warhorse]

I have two daughters. The older one gave me some lip when she was 3 and received one swat on the rear immediately. She never did it again and neither did I for either one. They are now married and in their 30's and we still have a wonderful relationship. Dad was always respected and they always tried hard to stay on my good side.

Yes, we did use other forms of discipline such as time out and sitting in a corner but it wasn't often necessary, at least for me.

I think a lot depends on your home situation and insisting on good manners and behavior. (i suspect that ther is a lot of luck involved, too.)

     Warhorse

[BridgeWalker]

Hitting?   

I don't see much point in euphemisms in this case
Swatting, smacking, and spanking are all euphemisms for hitting.

I see three types of evidence for making a decision on this: science, folk wisdom, and personal experience.  Science says that hitting is bad.  Folk wisdom says that spanking, swatting, and smacking are necessary, but is mostly unable to recognize that these things are hitting, and that it's generally not cool to hit people who are smaller and weaker than you.  Personal experience says that hitting kids is bad news.

My husband was never spanked.  I was.  He's never feared his parents.  I did.  My fear of displeasing my parents caused some pretty severe problems.  Between me and my husband, he is *definitely* and by far the better adjusted.

In any case, I'm open to other opinions, but retreating into euphemism is a pretty sad approach.  

Hit: 1.   to deal a blow or stroke to
Swat: 1.   to hit; slap; smack.
Smack: 1.   to strike sharply, esp. with the open hand or a flat object
Spank: 1.   to strike (a person, usually a child) with the open hand, a slipper, etc., esp. on the buttocks, as in punishment.