What are some of the harmful affects of of spanking children?

Question

I've always heard that it was wrong to spank children, but never heard of any psychological effects that would follow. At the most, I've just read very general and vague statements like, "spanking is bad." or "spanking children is a violent act." and no concrete evidence follows. Please Help.

Answer 1

There could be some ill effects depending on how parents use spanking. For example - One of my neighbors just wallops the daylights out of her daughter, and leaves it at that. No communication, no hug, nothing. I find that type of spanking sickening. I could see how a child could learn poor communication skills, and maybe hitting due to this type of spanking.

Now my husband and I use spanking as a last resort, or for major rule breaking. When we do it, it's all done in privet, and our daughters know why it's happening. Afterwords we hug and love them, and talk some more about not doing _______ again.

I wouldn't put to much into current polls and research on the harmful effects of spanking. Most are usually from the anti spanking bias.

Answer 2

Well depends on how you spank your child. When a parent is mad they attend to loose their temper and hit other places than the butt.
That's why you should spank your child after you send them to their room. This way you have a chance to cool your jets and have a better handle on the situation.
After you spank your child you need to explain why you spanked them and tell them that you love them. This way they understand what they did wrong and hopefully they will attend to do it less or not at all....
If your out in public take them to the nearest restroom and spank them. This way you have some privacy and you captivate their attention....
Spanking can cause psychological issues if it goes beyond the point of just a swat or two on the butt.
This is where abuse comes in.
I know when I was raised, it was the belt, my moms slipper, wooden spoon. etc... Which is not good. I don't have any pyscological problems, it depends on the parenting...
Most of the time the apple does not fall far from the tree, and it only get worse as each generation comes, or you become complete oppsites..
Most of all you want to remain calm. Easier said then done, but that's why abuse happens....
As an example my sister threw a wooden shoe at my dads knee and it hurt him really bad. So my dad spanked her with a belt untill she was black and blue. My dad lost control of his anger and he was verry sorry, which he never used the belt again... Now my sister uses the belt and she is faced with these anger fustrations, with her daughter...
It's a learned behavior and that's why they say it's psychological... Bascailly not realizing it's happening untill something has happend....

Answer 3

I think it depends on the child and the relationship. I was spanked on rare occasion and still have a very good relationship with my parents. I think this new idea that spanking is child abuse has caused kids to be worst than ever. My brother would sneak out of the house and my mom would get so frustrated because she felt helpless. She would say it's funny how the law says not to spank your kids or put bars on the windows (fire hazrd of course) but if they get in seriuose trouble the law will throw them behind bars and has no trouble beating them. I think that child abuse goes far beyond a disiplinary spanking and the parents that abuse their children do it regardless of what the law says.

Answer 4

Dude spanking aint gonna get you anywhere children will hate the peson who spanked will live with the fear of doing something wrong for a long time which is aloso called stress in a way. Also when they look back they will think they are abused. Oh FYI THEY CAN AND MIGHT USE 911.

Answer 5

It depends on the kid. My sister was spanked until she was 12 and it did nothing. She was a loud-mouthed kid who talked back, and really spanking was the absolute only way to get her to shut up and listen.

Me, on the other hand, I'm the opposite. My dad spanked me once, while I was still in diapers, and it scared me for life. After that, all he had to do was look at me angrily and I bursted out in tears, spilling my guts (if I had lied) and begging for him to still love me. Even to this day (I am 17 now), I don't do anything that will disappoint him, not because I think he'll spank me, but because I can't stand the thought of my father being disappointed in me. To me, that feels like the worst thing in the world.

My niece (my sister's child), is just like my sister and she pushes her limits. It takes a nice pop on the rear end, and sometimes the hand, to get her to stop doing something. She is only popped when she is getting into something dangerous. She's 2 and doesn't understand "this will hurt you". With a spanking, she associates that item with pain, which keeps her away. She won't ever touch the oven because she did once, and got popped, and now she says "ow" to the oven because she knows. Spanking can be used to keep your kids safe.

Answer 6

There is a huge difference between spanking and beating. A spanking should never leave marks for very long. A child should always know why he is being spanked. A parent should never spank in anger. Spanking can be done properly, so it helps a child to obey and they still know they are loved.

Answer 7

The only thing I can tell you is that since people stopped spaking their kids, kids have become more and more rotten and spoiled. Spanking is just a physical form of punishment to stop an action that will ultimately make the child think again about repeating the action that caused it. I'm not saying that spanking is the only form of punishment that can be used. As a matter of fact, it should be a last resort after you find talking to your kids just isn't cutting it anymore. The only harmful affect that spanking has on kids is that their but hurts for a few minutes. And, if done in public, they will suffer a little embarrassment. That is a small price to pay, in my opinion, for raising your child right.

One of the people who spouted off his or her personal attitude on spanking and how it would create violent tendencies in the child outside of the home does not have a clue about what really goes on. I can tell you this. I was spanked for breaking rules when I was a kid. I didn't like it, but I knew if I got caught doing something wrong, spanking was the punishment. Fighting was considered wrong (except in self defense) so I knew that if I got in a fight at school that my dad would whoop my but when I got home. Neither me, nor my brothers, ever got into a fight at school and only had to fight when we were defending ourselves and walking away was not an option.

Ultimately, spanking is about discipline. As long as you have rules in your house for your kids and have a disciplinary action for breaking the rules and the kid(s) know about that ahead of time, and you give said kids the love and attention they need as well as the support they crave, they should turn out all right. Whether you choose spanking as your form of punishment or some other form does not matter. As long as you stick to your guns about your rules (which can be modified as often as you need to) you will be ok too. The person who claims that they have never nor will ever spank their kids is not in the wrong about how they raise their kids, as long as they keep up with what they are doing and the kids responds to the punishment by not recommiting the "crime".

Answer 8

First of all it does no good, like the last post I read, a lady made since, most parents that spank have to do it over and over. Another reason is because you basically teach your child to hit. For example, if you spank your child and then later on your child hits you, then how do you teach them not to hit. It's ingrained in their mind, my parent hits me so it must be okay to do. Then you have to go through the act of correcting what you taught your child to do in an effort to correct what you know they should do. As far as psychological trauma, let me tell you what it does to some kids with a story. When I was a little girl I was diagnosed ADHD I was so hyperactive my parents said that I would sit in a corner they put me in and have to play with something even if it were a piece of fuzz off the carpet. Sad huh? Well, my parents I love them to death but they didn't know how to handle my disobedience, so they spanked me like most back in the 70's probably did. Well, unfortunately they had done it so much, that I would do things to get into trouble, and then I would bring one of my parents the belt and say here, hit me harder you didn't do it good enough last time. What do you think about that is that psychologically damaging enough to you. I hope so spanking affects children all in different ways more in some than others. Also proves a point spanking did no good for me.

Answer 9

i agree with oldschoolmom, it often depends how it is done and how the family is. in some conditions it can be realy harmul . my mom for example spanked me only when she was out of control that was very scary for me as a child. but i think the parents have the right to chose the right form of punishment for there children some little brats will need a firm hand others are very sensitive and a spanking can be too much. ah good parent will know what is right ore wrong for there childen and with gods help they will raise them well.

Answer 10

I can actually answer the other way. Back a couple generations ago, parents used spanking as a method of discipline. Now, more often than not it is viewed as child abuse. I was spanked as a child. It taught me not to do things that I shouldn't. Especially when children are young (diapers), it can be extremely useful to swat their bottoms and startle them into knowing what they are doing is wrong (i.e. touching something hot). The critics believe it teaches children to respond with violence to situations they view as wrong. Not sure if this helps or not...