Spanking children & mental health: Punishment linked to disorders later

[ahhell]

Are people who are prepared to beat children worthy of having them?

There's a big ****ing difference between beating the **** out of a kid and spanking them.

Trying to reason with a kid is just asinine. Kids need to know that there's a line not to cross and if they then there are consequences for their actions.

[Detection]

I was punished by getting hit as a kid and I've had no mental health problems other than years of getting high, being constantly pished and not being able to hold down a job

Its all being blown way out of proportion :p

[Farstrider]

Well that explains me. :s

Quite a few other things would also "explain" you! (and millions of others)

When ever these threads (and it happens quite often) arrive at Neowin's forum I find the responses (mostly the bleeding heart liberal new age generation, don't spank your kids, most of who don't actually have kids) truly hysterical!

[simplezz]

There's no excuse for physical abuse.

If it's not acceptable to strike an adult, then it's not acceptable to strike a child full stop.

And yes, I have painful memories being struck as a child. Those things stick with you your whole life. So to all the parents out there I ask the question - How do you want your children to remember you? Because if you hit them, I guarantee they'll resent it their entire lifes, not to mention the mental scars and trauma of it.

[ANON86364]

If you have even the slightest understanding of basic animal behavior you'd know that it's commonplace to have some sort of physical correction to modify behavior. And if you couple that with common sense knowledge that children's minds are immature, you'd realize that it's futile at times to reason with them. Sometimes it's no wonder why homo sapiens are so terrible at finding balance when it's clear we don't consider ourselves a part of nature.

[mokthraka]

Just because you can "remember" these things does not directly impact your adult mental state. I was beaten with a belt, had my mouthed washed out with soap, beaten by my five siblings, yet I am not depressed, have anxiety, nor am I paranoid. I also believe, looking back, I justly deserved everything and it taught me boundaries and respect.

Seems like these data collectors love to twist all kinds of things around to make their hypothesis meet the numbers. "What? You're child just died and you are depressed? And you were spanked as a child? Therefore, being spanked = adult depression." Such b.s.

I had all the things that you said where done to you done to me. I also have all three things the study mentioned.

[Rippleman]

Think there is a pattern. There is a difference between spanking and abusing. You hear about it a lot but never see the abuse that goes on behind closed doors. Spanking is "corrective" and hitting/beating is "abusive". There is nothing wrong with spanking as its the same as slapping a toddlers hand for try to touch an electrical socket (which does have a cover of course). It should startle but never hurt. BIG BIG difference. For those that oppose spanking, sorry you were abused. It was not your fault your parents took it too far. It was their mistake and I hope you can eventually see the difference.

[theyarecomingforyou]

If it's not acceptable to strike an adult, then it's not acceptable to strike a child full stop.

Children != Adults

An adult has the ability to comprehend the consequences of their actions; a child does not. Therefore your premise is fundamentally flawed.

[M_Lyons10]

This is complete nonsense. Lack of punishment creates unruly children and later unruly adults...

No one is endorsing beating them or anything, but there is nothing wrong with spanking.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

yeah I call complete bull**** on this study, not to mention not spanking and punishing children is proving to cause worse problems

[Nerd Rage]

Blame everyone else but yourself I guess...

Exactly! Overweight people say "It's McDonalds Fault". Poor People say "It's the governments fault". Etc Etc Etc. If you can't cope with what's going on in your life, it's not your parents fault for spanking you. Ridiculous.

[mokthraka]

yeah I call complete bull**** on this study, not to mention not spanking and punishing children is proving to cause worse problems

please. Show me a study that shows spanking your children helps.

You should punish them. But there are a hell of a lot more ways.

[Gabureiru]

Oh please. :rolleyes:

Agreed, paranoia, anxiety, better than teen pregnancy, and a whole lot of other real problems.

[a.mcdear]

I got spanked all the time. I turned out just fine. The only time its been uncommon for children to get spanked by their parents, is the most recent 30 years of human existence.

...And its causing todays kids to grow up to be wimpy, whiny, easily offended, lets-make-everything-illegal-because-its-unsafe-or-offensive type people.

[Order_66]

Don't spank your kids, they might turn into liberals when they grow up :rofl:

[Charisma Veteran]

I was spanked when I deserved it, and I'm glad. Sorted me out and I don't feel "traumatised" at all. Probably depends on the kid, and you have to be able to test different punishment methods and see which they respond to better. If I recall, my brother's most effective type was sending him to his room. He went crazy when he couldn't interact with the rest of us and just the threat of the "isolation" for a while was enough to make him behave/listen/do what he needed to. We're all quite well-adjusted, and I love my mom and am glad she did what needed to be done, tough love was needed.

I find it ironic that this thread is right up in the mini-spy at the moment with "Today's youth not fit to be employed". Yeah, they might be if more parents actually disciplined their children properly in the past 10-20 years.

[McKay]

please. Show me a study that shows spanking your children helps.

You should punish them. But there are a hell of a lot more ways.

http://www.parentdish.com/2010/01/05/researcher-says-a-little-spanking-is-good-for-kids/

When Id done something that was way over the line I got spanked. Anything that got me spanked I never did again. But anything that just got me grounded or pocketmoney taken away just made me try to be more careful about getting caught. If I knew something was bad enough to warrant being smacked I would decide it wasn't worth it.

[Richteralan]

O these researches. It is extremely easy to find contradicting researches in this subject.

So I guess let's hug the kids when they mess up..So much easier..lol

[SongHyeonDeok]

Yeah, we can look at our modern society to see how well that was worked......not at all.

You honestly believe that has anything to with the lack of spanking...

It attributes to almost 0% of modern society.

Trying to reason with a kid is just asinine. Kids need to know that there's a line not to cross and if they then there are consequences for their actions.

Okay, so the consequences must be a physical slap?

[SongHyeonDeok]

I find it ironic that this thread is right up in the mini-spy at the moment with "Today's youth not fit to be employed". Yeah, they might be if more parents actually disciplined their children properly in the past 10-20 years.

Gimme a break...

[Richteralan]

Okay, so the consequences must be a physical slap?

This argument can go both ways you know.

Consequences come with many flavours.

[mokthraka]

Agreed, paranoia, anxiety, better than teen pregnancy, and a whole lot of other real problems.

are you saying mental disorders arent real problems.

[zeta_immersion]

I was spanked a few times ... between 1st and 4th grade (not to mention some other drastic measures beforehand)... remember it and resent it ... now, don't speak with parents/brother at all for some time now

[theyarecomingforyou]

Overweight people say "It's McDonalds Fault". Poor People say "It's the governments fault". Etc Etc Etc.

Neither of those are fair accusations. While McDonald's is not directly to blame for obesity there are definitely many practices being used which are detrimental to health, from excessive portion sizes to the use of HFCS (in the US). And while governments are not responsible for providing a care-free existence to poor people there is a lot more that could be done to protect and empower the worse off in society, especially when there is rampant and chronic abuse of the tax and legal systems by the wealthy.

If you can't cope with what's going on in your life, it's not your parents fault for spanking you.

That's not necessarily true. The study has highlighted some potential concerns which deserve to be investigated and it may turn out that in some cases smacking can be a factor in mental health issues. However, that does not mean that such forms of discipline should be banned altogether or are not in fact beneficial. As absurd as it sounds, bacon is a good comparison - many studies have shown it can have a negative impact upon health but few are calling for it to be banned outright.

Given the huge number of variables in a child's upbringing I find such claims to be dubious and would want to see numerous reports with incredibly large sample sizes before jumping to any conclusions. As I said earlier, where is the research into the benefits of smacking?

[Gnome]

I was spanked a few times as a kid and don't feel there were any measurable negative effects, though I was never spanked so hard that it caused injury. I'd say it helped keep me out of trouble more than anything else.

I'm pretty sure I was traumatized more by school bullies and crazy girlfriends than anything parents ever did to me.