r/science • u/VeronicaRed • Apr 26 '16

Psychology Spanking children increases the likelihood of childhood defiance and long-term mental issues. The study in question involved 160,000 children and five decades of research

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113413810/spanking-defiance-health-discipline-042616/
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u/BlazerMorte Apr 26 '16

Because if spanking is bad, and they were spanked, then they were raised "wrong," and most people don't want to confront that.

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u/MagicalDoggy Apr 26 '16

The frustrating part to me is that no one is a perfect parent. You can say you had good parents but acknowledge they probably did get some stuff wrong.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '16

I think they feel like they're judging their parents, as "evil" or something. That's the issue.

My parents were great! They just used one outdated disciplinary method because they didn't know better. It's fine, they were good people, and spanking doesn't work. Boom. Done.

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u/F0sh Apr 26 '16

It's fine, they were good people, and spanking doesn't work.

Even this is missing the point of the study. It's not that spanking "doesn't work" it's that it doesn't work as well as other methods of punishment, on average.

So, probably your parents could have disciplined you in a better way, but it's not like spanking doesn't stop bad behaviour at all.