U.S. Pediatricians Say No to Spanking

Large swaths of the U.S. have traditionally used corporal punishment, especially spanking, on children.

The Dutch noted how much of this the Pilgrims used on their children when they lived among them (before they went to North America).

Attitudes on spanking may change after the American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement in December that recommends that parents not use corporal punishment or verbal abuse when disciplining children.

The AAP policy statement, titled “Effective Discipline to Raise Healthy Children,” basically says that all forms of corporal punishment, as well as yelling at or shaming children, are minimally effective.

While a spanking may make a young child stop a behavior for a few minutes, he or she tends to resume that same unwanted behavior soon thereafter.

There is a difference between discipline and punishment. Discipline is teaching kids what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Discipline teaches children how they should treat others and how to go about doing so.

Punishment is a penalty given (to the child in this case) for misbehavior. If a given punishment doesn’t work very well, it probably shouldn’t be used.

There is evidence to show that corporal punishments such as spanking may lead to more aggressive behaviors later in life.

Verbal abuse of children has been shown to lead to behavior problems and depression in adolescence.

In truth, U.S. parents who use corporal punishments seem to do so as a last resort.

Parents tend to let the child know that the undesired behavior is wrong, then take away privileges, then use corporal punishment if all else fails.

No doubt the AAP’s policy statement will be controversial in parts of the U.S. where corporal punishment is a very old tradition.

Cultural norms tend to be very resistant to change.

Across the U.S. in general, newer polls show that fewer parents, especially of young children, think that corporal punishment is ever acceptable.

Most U.S. pediatricians certainly do not.

I was spanked as a child growing up. With me (and later with my children) it turned out that timeouts worked much, much better in instilling discipline.

My parents used to (secretly) think it was funny that I would ask to be spanked as a punishment so that I could then go out and play.

Sitting in my room listening to my friends having fun playing outside was a very effective punishment.