The sound of being spanked is both "OUCH!" and "DUH!" Anyone who has been spanked knows that it hurts. But did you know that corporal punishment leaves a long-lasting mark -- lower IQ?
New research presented at the International Conference of Violence, Abuse and Trauma, in San Diego, links being spanked as a child to having a lower IQ, according to a study by University of New Hampshire professor Murray Straus and Mallie Paschall at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.
SPANKING AFFECTS CHILDRENS' INTELLIGENCE
This relationship between spanking and intelligence is found in children around the world. In the United States, children who were spanked had lower IQs, by 2.8 to 5 points, than children who were not spanked, the study found.
Researchers studied 806 children ages 2 to 4 and 704 kids ages 5 to 9. IQ scores were influenced by how often parents spanked the children. "The more spanking, the slower the development of the child's mental ability," said Straus. "But even small amounts of spanking made a difference."
YOUNG TODDLERS SPANKED MOST
The study revealed that 93 percent of mothers had spanked 2 to 4-year-olds once or more per week; but, only 58 percent had turned to physical discipline for the older children. Toddlers were spanked the most -- nearly half of toddlers' moms had spanked their children three or more times per week, Straus and Paschall found.
"it's one of the cruel ironies that younger children are more at risk because their brain is in the most formative part of development," said Straus.
INTERNATIONAL SPANKING
The Straus team looked at corporal punishment practices in 32 countries, surveying 17,404 university students. In nations where spanking was more prevalent, the study found a lower national average IQ. For those children whose parents continued to use corporal punishment even when they were teenagers, the effect between punishment and IQ was the strongest.
LESS BRAIN MATTER
This isn't the first time researchers have produced evidence that spanking children is costly. A recent brain-imaging study found that children who underwent severe corporal punishment had less brain grey matter -- which includes neurons -- compared with other children, according to ABC News.
Eleven years ago, Straus told the World Congress of Sociology in Montreal that his researched showed that children who are hardly ever spanked fare better on intelligence tests -- the more children were spanked or otherwise physically punished, the lower their scores on the tests.
Straus has also researched and written on:
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"Spanking Kids Increases Risk of Sexual Problems as Adults" (February, 2008)
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"Spanking Teaches Short-Term Lesson But Long-Term Violence" (July 1999)
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"Spanking Makes Children Violent, Antisocial" (August 1997)
During the 1990s, members of the American Academy of Pediatrics fought bitterly before finally declaring that "corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects" in 1998, reports Time.
RESULTS OF SPANKING
In discussing the best ways to discipline your child, the American Academy of Pediatrics warns:
"It is true that many adults who were spanked as children may be well-adjusted and caring people today. However, research has shown that, when compared with children who are not spanked, children who are spanked are more likely to become adults who are depressed, use alcohol, have more anger, hit their own children, hit their spouses, and engage in crime and violence. These adult outcomes make sense because spanking teaches a child that causing others pain is OK if you're frustrated or want to maintain control -- even with those you love."
HOW MUCH EVIDENCE DO WE NEED?
Apparently all of this research and evidence that spanking is terribly harmful to children just isn't enough to convince a lot of people, certainly not those who feel that their frustration is the most important and those who have a need to maintain control. For some, there will never be enough evidence to get them to stop hurting their children.
It's only common sense to understand that a child doesn't see the difference between getting spanked from his parents and hitting a sibling or another child when he doesn't get what he wants.
Please, don't spank your kids. There are a lot more effective ways to discipline children that are a lot safer.
TO READ "SPANKING IS ILLEGAL: SWEDEN CELEBRATES 30-YEAR NATIONAL BAN" CLICK HERE.
TO READ "COUNTRIES WHERE SPANKING IS BANNED" CLICK HERE.
by Sharon McEachern
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