Do you believe that spanking lowers a child's IQ?

Question

I'm not just talking about intelligence, but emotional I.Q. as well. If so, do you have any evidence to support this? I do not believe that spanking is an effective parenting tool. It affects kids cognitive problem solving abilities among their peers. Some turn into manipulative, dominating adults.

I do not define spanking as an attention -getting swat. I'm referring to a series of swats.

For those of you who state you have been spanked and have high I. Q's or above average I. Q's, I think that is very subjective evidence. For one thing, how can you prove it? I'm not looking at individual people. I'm looking for trends, patterns, statistics............

Some of you have stated your I.Q. is high or above average because you were spanked. How can you prove it on Yahoo Answers?

Old school mom I have checked out that website. People who have become CEO's and were spanked as kids. Big deal, what's a handful of CEO's? Big business runs in the blood of these families. How are pre-school/school-aged children today affected by spanking? I have reason to believe it takes the love out of learning.

Spanking is not a creative discipline tool. It is punishment. As the old saying goes "you attract more bees with honey."Spanking teaches a child what not to do and does not give them tools to succeed in life. It is not empowering. It is a domineering approach- children being made to mind instead of encouraging them to think for themselves.

Spanking affects cognitive development which in turn affect emotional intelligence as well as I.Q. It hampers a child's ability to communicate.

Answer 1

I actually believe that it can. Great question!! I so agree with you. This is a small study in the site below that proves it:
Maria Montessori, one of the earliest opponents of slapping children's hands, believed that children's hands are tools for exploring, an extension of the child's natural curiosity. Slapping them sends a powerful negative message. Sensitive parents we have interviewed all agree that the hands should be off-limits for physical punishment. Research supports this idea. Psychologists studied a group of sixteen fourteen-month-olds playing with their mothers. When one group of toddlers tried to grab a forbidden object, they received a slap on the hand; the other group of toddlers did not receive physical punishment. In follow-up studies of these children seven months later, the punished babies were found to be less skilled at exploring their environment. Better to separate the child from the object or supervise his exploration and leave little hands unhurt.
I found this too:

Spanking lowers a child's IQ: A study at the University of New Hampshire, released in 1998-JUL, found that spanking children apparently slows down their intellectual development. 3 A study of 960 children found an average 4 point reduction in IQ among students, from and average IQ of 102 (above average) for children who are not spanked, to an average IQ 98 (below average) for who are. A reduction of 4 points is enough to have a significant negative functional effect on the students.

Some children remember spanking messages more than nurturing ones. They will remember and be most influenced by the 1 hit than the 100 hugs. Hitting just devalues a child. Children need to predict the outcome in order to behave good in the future. Parents should never spank because using fear and pain is the wrong way to go about it.
Spanking is a form of violence that teaches children that inflicting fear and pain on others is a way to control their behavior. Parents who spank are out of control and are not disciplined parents. It just teaches children how to hit, how to be sneaky, how to fear, how to be ashamed and how to take anger out on others. All degrees of spanking- light, moderate, occasional, rarely, always- give children the wrong kind of attention. You want your child to follow rules because they are right and good, not to avoid punishment because they are scared and become sneaky. When parents spank, they stop their children at the lowest level of moral development. So all the idiots that recommend to spank are eroding their childs ability to be empathetic. When you react with anger to childrens' behavior, we teach them to act without considering another persons' feelings-another consequence we need to avoid. Then when your child doesn't have empathy, it is impossible for them to learn to share, play well with others, avoid angry and violent actions, and take responsibility for their actions. I have children and am studying early childhood development in college. I am against spanking. They are very intelligent, well behaved, respectful, happy children. Children of non-spanking parents tend to be easy to manage and well-behaved because these parents set clear standards for what is expected, provide lots of love and affection, explain things to the child, and recognize and reward good behavior. Non-spanking parents also pay more attention to their children’s behavior, both good and bad, than parents who spank do.
Research shows that the higher the education the person has, the less likely they spank.

Answer 2

You apparently aren't aware that intelligence is not directly correlated with IQ... lol IQ has to do with understanding abstract concepts and recognizing patterns. Intelligence is the information that you have gleaned through the years. As far as all those who spank, have spanked, or were spanked... I think these studies are particularly scientific in that they used a large study group, 2 different age groups AND they did the study over a number of years. The point of the study was to show that spanking affects the development of neural connections in your brain, as well as incites aggressive behavior at a young age. These numbers can never be fully accurate, since nobody has the same experiences -- even if they were twins that lived in the same house and received the exact same punishment, they would STILL have their own perspective, and thus take from the experience something different. For the comment on the kids who weren't spanked... the study doesn't go both ways here. You can't say well if these kids DID get spanked their IQ is lower, so then these kids that didn't get spanked have a higher IQ. Sorry, that is completely faulty logic. I know plenty of kids who probably should have some sort of formal discipline, but that doesn't have anything to do with spanking... that is a parenting issue. @canis: you said "I do not see how requiring a child to behave is going to ave any effect on his or her IQ." That isn't what this study is saying... this is saying that children that ARE spanked have a lower IQ... not: children who behave will have a higher IQ than those who don't behave. @cylon : you said "Getting the occasional spanking teaches a kid that their actions and choices have consequences, and that those consequences can be unpleasant if they make the wrong decisions." You don't think there are other types of consequences we can give children for their inappropriate behavior? Have we forgotten that they are children? Just because it will "teach them a lesson" doesn't justify that hitting them will provide the best response. Hitting a child teaches them 2 things: 1) If you do something "wrong" you will be hit [instead of "don't do this/that] 2) If someone does something they think is wrong, they will hit them [instead of telling them that they did something wrong] Break the cycle!

Answer 3

Actually I have noticed that the kids that aren't spanked turned into manipulative adults. I was spanked and I am not manipulative AT ALL.

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If you are looking for subjective studies done of this then this is the wrong place to look for it. I know that I have an above average IQ, average is 90 and I've ranked between 125 and 129 on a couple tests in my adulthood. So that makes me above average but not genius. In my experience, the ones who aren't spanked, and I'm not talking abused, I'm talking a spanking when appropriate, grow up not knowing how to deal with life, thinking that everything is supposed to be given to them and don't understand why it's not. They tend to be spoiled, rotten. My son gets a spank far and few between, but when absolutely necessary. My son is the most well behaved, polite child I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He is punished appropriately, when necessary, and those punishments usually include grounding from one thing or another, and the rare spank.

I don't think though that you can base a hypothesis such as manipulative behavior solely on whether the person was spanked or not, this tends to be more of a character trait that is either inherited or learned.

Answer 4

Not unless their brains are located somewhere other than their head, no. I was spanked when I was little, and my IQ is (I'm not bragging) well within the genius range.

What spanking DID do was teach me that there are consequences to my actions and that the rump is going to pay for what the brain decides to do. I respect authority, obey the law, and try to treat others the way I'd like to be treated.

My experience has been the exact opposite of yours. The manipulative, dominating adults that I know were, to a person, NOT spanked. Their parents indulged them and never corrected them other than a feeble "Go to your room." (This is before the days of time outs, which are also useless after a certain age, IMHO.)

Those people grew up with no respect for authority or others around them. They might be brilliant people, but they use their intellect to manipulate and harm others. I think some good old-fashioned "woodshed therapy" would have benefited them enormously.

Answer 5

People don't have a clue. If anyone reads the news on Yahoo or even watches TV that old fable of spanked kids lose self-esteem, not bright, etc., is absolutely ridiculous. A recent survey was published that shows the most successful CEOs of the largest corporations in America were spanked as kids more often than the norm.

I personally think it creates self respect and responsibility for one's actions. Once you have that confidence you can lead others as you understand your actions will affect many.

Another big crock, that is probably even more damaging to our kids than the lack of discipline, is the awards given out in schools. There is no competition as everyone is a winner. It's simply stupid. Today a winner is not a success, as everyone wins today. Awards should be given to only those that excel and not for having the best posture or neatest desk.

I'll dispel another old fable that has been the politically correct way of thinking a number of years since psychology was a standard course in school. That criminals have low self esteem and lack confidence. I think this myth was perpetrated by academia that would watch a prisoner struggle and show embarrassment when trying to read or use of incorrect grammar.

The TRUE fact is, criminals have more self confidence than most all people in society. Yeah, don't be stupid... when you thought a bully had a lot of confidence, you were right, he does. He might have a very screwed up life, abuse, and all sorts of things that make him that way but he, as well as criminals, don't lack self-esteem. Finally psychologists, forced by criminologists started doing some studies in our prisons and not only found very high self-esteem among the inmates but also revealed how inmates should be treated and criminologists should change focus on certain crimes.

BTW, don't think for a minute these crusaders are not driven by book sales and research dollars. The more followers they have the more money passes into their pockets. The more they can make parents not to go with their natural instinct the more books they will sell teaching parents differently. It is just silly that you grow up and say that you were raised perfectly and then follow some stranger on how to raise your children differently than your parents raised you.

We see how Dr. Spock was blessed with the almighty buck instead of working as a pediatrician and how screwed up his own personal family life was run. He was as much as a children's doctor as Reverend Jessie Jackson is the minister at a church.

As you grow older, you will find out more and more, things are usually as they appear to be instead of how the publishers that sells books want you to think.

From the 60's on, we thought a dream took only 2 seconds. Then they changed it and said it took a couple of minutes. Then they went back to the 2 second rule. And now, dreams are as they appear. Some take a long time.

Ditto Freud, everything was sex related, then it was looked on as being silly and dated, then back to the significance of sex and Freud was more right than wrong.

Answer 6

No I dont believe this... I spank my children when there way out of line and dont obeythe first time. If a parent install morals and beliefs into a child, spanking or not they will NOT turn into a manipilative or dominating adults.. Its the parents responsibitly to teach there children when they get spanked they need to know why..

I was spanked as a child and I know I needed it.. If you raise your child right people it won't install violence and it won't install low iq that is just crap kids use to manulate(sp?) there parents... Install morals in your child..


I think gimpalomg said it right on.. Parents are AFRAID of there child, thats why they get away with what they do. Parents need to take charge..

Answer 7

I do not think it does, however parents that spank all the time tend to come from lower educated backgrounds. Some parents think that every lesson the child learns needs to be done by spanking. They do not use verbal communication except for yelling a scolding. Also a child that lives in fear will have a closed mind since the are overly controlled and not allowed to think for themselves.

Answer 8

Spanking, when done out correctly from a loving parent training their child, is the most effective method you can use. When spanking turns to abuse, from an angry person taking their wrong emotions out an a child, then it becomes a problem.
It has been proven that "time-out" alone ultimately does not work. Too many parents revert to ignoring wrong behaviors. And the whole Dr. Spock thing has given us a generation of messed up adults, the proof is in the pudding, just look at the down turn of society..........well I digress.........
Learn to spank correctly, out of love, and you will produce a strong, well adjusted, respectful, loving child!

Answer 9

No, I certainly do not. Infact, statistically speaking the average IQ in the USA is about 7 points LOWER than it was 30 years ago (according to a study done at Princeton University). Also, 30 years ago kids were regularly spanked and it was not viewed as abuse. Now, kids rarely ever get spanked..... You do the math....

Answer 10

"It affects kids cognitive problem solving abilities among their peers."
I couldn't have said it or thought it better myself. In addition, in a conflict, a child will consider or enact violence first. We are not neanderthals anymore; at least we're not supposed to be. We've been trying to evolve socially for a long time, and strive to solve our problems intelligently and equitably. There is no justice in violence. My parents never spanked me. And I didn't become spoiled or manipulative or weak... I did learn martial arts when I was a teenager, and I learned to control my body and mind, not through repression, but through discipline. Internal discipline is the only true kind. Otherwise we are slaves, under another's control, or by our own inflated super-ego...