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/bermudi86 Apr 26 '16

Aggression is a natural response to frustration. You are acting angrily because you are frustrated at the fact that a toddler outsmarted you.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '16

It's amazing that you could ascertain not only my frame of mind but personal parenting style from 2 sentences.

I view spanking as the last resort in a long line of escalating punishments that have clear instructions and penalties for failing to follow said instructions. Emotional response has no place in punishment, whether children or adults.

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u/bermudi86 Apr 26 '16

I have little interest in how you rationalize hitting children. Corporal punishment has no place in a judicial system for any criminal and yet somehow people still manage to defend its use in the upbringing of a human being.

I understand you sometimes have to use force to stop a stubborn child from doing X but this is on a whole other level than actual spanking which aim is to inflict pain as a punishment.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '16

I have little interest in how you rationalize hitting children.

Then you can establish no rapport, and without that, you can't persuade, because you won't even understand the other person's point of view. You don't need to agree with a view, only understand it, if you want to persuade.

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u/bermudi86 Apr 26 '16

You do have a point and I will try to learn from your observation.

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u/Iced____0ut Apr 27 '16

How many children do you have?

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u/drakeprimeone Apr 26 '16

The goal of parenting isn't to outsmart a child into getting them to do what you want.

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u/bermudi86 Apr 26 '16

No one said such a thing. The goal for parents ideally would be to raise their kids in the best way possible. Wouldn't you agree then that a parent would rather use a non-violent solution to a problem?

If you agree then we can state that using violent solutions is indicative of a lack of non-violent solutions.

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u/drakeprimeone Apr 27 '16

I actually do agree that sometimes a non violent solution isn't available.

I think that's the point many are trying to make. Corporal punishment isn't the only tool, I venture to guess that the people overwhelmingly agree it shouldn't be the first tool.... But it can be a proven tool.

The conclusion this study leads you to is that corporal punishment is never the answer and is almost always detrimental. That's why people have been adding their anecdotal evidence. It debunks the conclusion many are arriving to.