The spanking debate rages on, except it’s not much of a debate anymore. The research is clear – spanking is harmful to child development. The American Academy of Pediatrics has taken a stand against corporal punishment, summarizing new evidence published in the last 20 years. It should be noted that the AAP defines corporal punishment as the “non-injurious, open handed hitting with the intention of modifying child behavior.” This definition makes it clear that we aren’t just talking about extreme cases of child abuse here, but the common practice of spanking as a form of discipline, and the AAP warns that it is harmful and is calling for its abolition.


Children who experience corporal punishment have been proven to be more aggressive and have an increased risk of mental health disorders and cognitive problems. Strikingly, even when warm parenting practices occurred alongside spanking, adolescent conduct disorder and depression remained, meaning that being a kind and loving parent when not administering a spanking didn’t save the child from its consequences. Some studies have noted a relationship between physical punishment and chronically high cortisol levels which could lead to lifelong negative health effects.

Spanking may seem to work in the moment because it temporarily interrupts the bad behavior, but what’s happening in the child’s body and brain because of that spanking is significant and puts the child at substantial risk. In addition, spanking has been shown ineffective in the long term, so it’s really not worth the risk to a child’s mental and physical health.

Unfortunately, some parents still confuse the absence of spanking with an absence of discipline, claiming that by “sparing the rod,” children are allowed to get away with all sorts of bad conduct. In addition, there’s the argument that “I was spanked and turned out fine,” although it’s impossible to know the impact those spankings had on one’s developing brain and body and how that person might have “turned out” in the absence of such trauma. These perspectives keep parents locked in a negative cycle that is hard to break free from without proper guidance for effective discipline.

In the Policy Statement issued by the AAP, they include yelling at and shaming children in their list of aversive disciplinary strategies along with corporal punishment. Yelling and shaming are also common strategies, with shaming techniques trending in a world of viral videos and short bursts of fame. So, what are the effective discipline strategies recommended?

The AAP says that an effective discipline system must contain 3 vital elements: 1) a learning environment characterized by positive, supportive parent-child relationships; 2) a strategy for systemic teaching and strengthening of desired behaviors (proactive); 3) a strategy for decreasing or eliminating undesired or ineffective behaviors (reactive). For infants, parental discipline looks like providing a generally structured daily routine and responding to the infant’s needs, and later to create safe spaces for them to explore and play. For toddlers, it’s providing safety and communicating verbally (a firm no) and removing the child from danger. The AAP warns that parents should not expect reasoning, verbal commands, or reprimands to manage the behavior of infants and toddlers. This is based on the development of a child’s brain and the immaturity of the prefrontal cortex in the early years.

Here are the AAP recommendations for promoting positive child behavior for older children:

  • Maintain a positive emotional tone in the home through play and parental warmth and affection.
  • Provide consistency in the form of regular times and patterns of daily activities and interactions to reduce resistance and convey respect for the child.
  • Respond consistently to similar behavioral situations to promote more harmonious parent-child relationships.
  • Be flexible, particularly with older children and adolescents, through listening and negotiation to reduce fewer episodes of child noncompliance with parental expectations and involve the child in the decision-making process which has been associated with long-term enhancement in moral judgment.

 

I should note that the AAP recommendation is to “Provide attention to the child to increase positive behavior and conversely ignoring, removing, or withholding parent attention to decrease the frequency or intensity of undesirable behaviors.” This goes against my personal beliefs as I do not believe in withholding love and attention from a child and feel that it is manipulative and emotionally damaging. Instead, in Positive Parenting, is it recommended to seek to understand the underlying need and emotion behind the child’s behavior and facilitate healing so that the child’s behavior improves naturally and to use problem-solving to teach behavior management and accountability. By working with your child to solve the problem at hand, the child learns valuable life skills and better understands the impact of their behavior. You can find more information on these Positive Parenting strategies on the Creative Child website.

The takeaway here is that spanking, yelling, and shaming are all harmful and should be avoided. It is up to us to end these negative cycles and learn new, effective, and better ways to raise our children.

 

Resources:

1. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/101/4/723

2. http://www.aappublications.org/news/2018/11/05/discipline110518