In todays society, spanking is a major controversial topic. Spanking is the act of striking a child’s buttocks with an open hand (Moninger). Only a short 38 years ago in 1974 the United States passed the Child Abuse and Treatment Act prior to this act spanking children was considered a “family matter” and was not something others questioned (CAPTA). A poll of 1,000 readers on parents.com eighty-one percent said they had spanked their child at least once and twenty-two percent do so once a week or more (Moninger). This figure is consistent with the 2007 study that was published in the “Psychology, Public Policy, and Law” Journal which stated that nearly eighty percent of kids are spanked at least once by fifth grade (Moninger). Many people today still believe that it is still family business while others believe spanking is a form of child abuse which is a non-productive way to handle things and scares children for the rest of their lives (Squidoo). Though there are some Pros to spanking, do we know what the long term effects of spanking are on children under the age of 13? Some of the Pros of spanking are that it can be effective on a short term basis by getting the child to change the negative behavior that caused the spanking in the first place (Dr.Phil). When spanking is used in conjunction with more of a humane disciplinary method, such as time outs, it seems to have a greater affect on children from ages two to six (Dr.Phil). Also it seems that parents who use time outs along with

negative consequences, like spanking, have the most success in changing negative behaviors (Dr.Phil). The founder of Focus on The Family, Dr. James Dobson, discusses in his book “Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide” why he thinks that spanking is all right under some circumstances. In the book it say’s, “Is there an age when you begin to spank?” in return Dobson answered “There is no excuse for spanking children younger then 15 to 18 months. Midway through the second year children become capable of understanding instruction. They can then very gently be held responsible for how they behave.” Diana Baumrind, one of the worlds leading experts in parenting, does not believe in spanking and believes that Dobson uses his personal morals of being a high profiled minister to affect his evidence. In a research study by Harriet MacMillan, she sampled a population of Ontario adults who remembered being spanked before the age of ten years old. These adults were twice as likely to have reported alcohol abuse or antisocial behaviors compared to those who were not spanked (Thomas). MacMillan also states that spanking is much more common in society then data indicates because kids are more frequently spanked between the ages of 3 and 4 which is too early for most adults to remember (Thomas).

With that being said there are many cons to spanking. Some long term consequences of spanking, tend to include increased aggressiveness, antisocial

behavior, and delinquency (Dr.Phil). It has been suggested that children who are being spanked have a higher rate of failure to learn right from wrong, subsequent criminal behavior, and as adults they become child abuser (Dr.Phil). Spanking and other physical consequences can give a child mixed messages about being aggressive and will reinforce aggressive behavior in the child. When caregivers show aggressive behavior by spanking, they show the child that physical aggression is the way to get what you want in life (Dr.Phil). This can have a profound affect on young children who become aggressive when things don’t go their way. For example, if a child who gets spanked wants to play with a toy another child is playing with and is not given the toy he may become aggressive with the other child because he or she is taught that it is okay to push or hit someone else to get what you want.

Spanking is a major fact in poor relationships between the parents and the child. Children who are spanked tend to feel less attached and tend to trust their parents less. The more a child is spanked the less closeness is felt in the relationship with the parent (Dr.Phil). William Sears, a pediatrician, believes that spanking produces intense negative emotions in children making them frightened by their parents and causing them to become angry with the prospect of being hurt. These emotions become very intense if a child is repeatedly spanked causing the memories of being spanked to outweigh happier times in their childhood (Johnson). Spanking also increases a child’s

risk of misbehaving in the future. In 2004, a study in “Pediatrics” found an association between the children who had a high frequency of spankings before the age of two tended to have many behavior problems in school 4 years later (Johnson). White children who were spanked 5 or more times in a week have 4.2 times the risk of behavior problems that were significant enough to require a conference with the child’s teacher compared to children who were not spanked (Johnson). Also in the 2010 issue of “Pediatrics”, it was reported that three year old children who were spanked more then once a month were at an increased risk for aggressive behavior at age 5 (Johnson).

Catherine Taylor, a community health sciences professor, led a study that found that out of the mothers surveyed in twenty cities when their children were both three and five years old 45.6% reported not spanking their three year old in the previous month, 27.9% reported spanking their three year old more then twice in the previous month (Park). At five years old the children who had been spanked were more likely to be defiant, demand immediate satisfaction of their wants and needs, become frustrated easily, have temper tantrums, and lash out physically against others more often then the children who were not spanked (Park).

Michele Borda, an advisor at Parents Magazine and Parents.com, gives alternatives to parents that use their hands to punish their children. If your child is around the age of one, positive reinforcement for being good should be used to let the

child know exactly what they did right (Johnson). If the child is around the age of 2, you should use the ignore the behavior approach for example, when the child is throwing a temper tantrum pretend you cannot hear them, though it may escalate before it subsides if the parents does not respond the child will eventually stop (Johnson). If your child is in the age range from three to seven, you should give time outs one minute for each year of life and when it is over discuss with the child what they did wrong and how it could be avoided next time (Johnson).

Personally, spanking is not an okay thing to do to your child as a form of punishment. Children do not understand why they are being hit all they know is that there being hit for doing something that usually isn’t explained to them as wrong. As a child, I was spanked and I can say that I didn’t understand why I was being spanked half the time so I never really learned a lesson but that was the only way my father knew how to punish us when we were younger because thats what was used to punish him by his father. I can say that spanking probably had a big part in the fact that I get angry very easily and is why I am more aggressive then most girls.