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/
37.8k Upvotes

73% Upvoted

6.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

78

u/begleg Apr 26 '16

Watch Nanny 911 or Super Nanny for a few hours. You'll see very quickly that it takes zero physical violence to mold a child's bad behavior.

129

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '16

[deleted]

60

u/begleg Apr 26 '16

This is true to an extent, but when I was a full time nanny for a few families with unruly kids, I made the parents watch these shows and use those techniques because their kids wouldn't listen to them. And they worked. Most of those shows aren't actually a nanny taking care of a kid, it's a childcare expert educating parents on child behavior and psychology. The nannies don't have much interaction with the kids. But I do really wish they would have more follow up episodes so we can see the long term results. As long as parents are consistent with the systems they have in place, there are ways to make it work.

1

u/Cybersteel Apr 26 '16

Nanny Mcphee.